Power Rangers Element Storm
by Abare Killer
Summary: When the Chaos Three come to earth and threaten the equilibrium of the elements, five teens, chosen at birth, must use the powers of the elements to become the Element Storm Power Rangers.
1. The Power of the Elements part 1

A/N This story is based on a role play that I created on the forum Ranger Power. It stars members from the forum who are my friends. Unless you're a member there, you won't recognize them. lolI thought I'd post the story here to and see what you guys think of it. Please leave a review! Thanks! Enjoy!

Episode 1: The Jade Crystals part 1

The classroom was silent and motionless. The eyes of both student and teacher alike were all focused on the same spot: the clock that hung on the wall above the white board. The seconds clicked by slowly, it seemed, as always happened before something exciting. Only one pair of eyes in the room was not looking at the clock. These eyes were staring at a watch on the wrist of the body they were attached to. Bethany Blackmon knew that her watch was accurate to the second with the school bell, which was more than anyone could say for the clock in the room. It was always a few second off, and Beth wanted to know the exact second the bell would ring.

At last, there were only ten seconds left before 2:38 and the end of school. Beth began to count down the seconds loudly.

"10, 9, 8…" By now, all eyes in the room were on her. A few other students joined her. "7, 6, 5…" At this point, every one in the room, including the teacher, was counting as well. "4, 3, 2, 1, _brrrrrrinnnng._" Sure enough, the second after they had counted to one, the bell rang and the students began to flood out of the classroom. Beth was the last one out besides the teacher. As she made her way to the door, she turned to him and smiled.

"Have a good spring break, Mr. Thompson," she said.

"I will," he replied, smiling as well. "You too, Bethany."

"Thank you," Beth said politely as she skipped out of the classroom and down the halls to the exit. Once she got outside of the school, she began searching for her friends. They had agreed to meet in the quad area before they went to check out the new café that had just opened today. Overclocked, it was called. The very name was enough of a reason to check it out, besides the fact that it was a cybercafé and all of the other students in the school were going there today as well.

Sure enough, Beth soon found her four friends standing around waiting for her. She walked up to them and smiled.

"Finally, it's Spring Break," she said in mock exasperation.

"Yep," said Daniel McCue, looking at his friend. He was wearing a red tank top shirt with a thin black jacket over it and a pair of blue jeans. He ran his fingers through his hair before continuing. "Spring Break: a time for rest, relaxation, and wild parties every night!" He grinned happily at his last few words, while the others just laughed at him. They knew he was serious, but the thought of it still made them laugh.

Michael Tisdale put his arms behind his head. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a long sleeved yellow shirt. Tiz was the only guy Beth had ever seen who wore yellow almost every day, but that was one of the things that made him so unique. "Me?" he said. "I'm going to spend some quality time with my video games during break. They've missed me so much while I've been in school…" His voice trailed off in pretend sadness as his friends laughed.

Margaret Ryan punched Tiz in the arm. "There's more to life than video games, you know," she said as he rubbed his arm in pain. Peg walked over to Dan and stood next to him. She wore a blue spaghetti strap shirt with a see-through white jacket over it, unbuttoned, and a pair of light blue jeans. "I think I'll go party hopping with Dan this break," she said, grinning playfully. Dan smiled down at her.

Beth chuckled. "I'm looking forward to being able to get back into my online role plays," she said. "I've been kind of neglecting them lately, because school has been taking up way too much of my time. Stupid school…" she added, laughing a little. She was wearing a plain green T-shirt and black jeans.

"Well, school is always more important, right?" asked Sean Varisano, who stood next to her. He wore dark black jeans and a long sleeved white shirt. Anyone could tell by his smile that he was being sarcastic. No high school student really thought that school was always more important. Beth smiled back at him.

"So, what are your plans for break, Sean?" she asked with a hint of shyness in her voice.

"I don't know," Sean replied. "I haven't really given it much thought. I guess I'll just hang out with you guys."

"Um, shouldn't we get going?" Peg asked impatiently. "After all, we would like go get to the café before the crowds, right?" Everyone saw the logic in this and made their way to their respective cars. It didn't take long to get to the café, which was right down the street from the school. When they arrived, they sat at a booth near the door and looked at the menus to decide what to order.

William Jones stood behind the counter of the Overclocked Café, making smoothies for his many customers. His suspicions had been correct. Opening the café on the first day of Spring Break was an excellent idea. The place was already full of teens who had just finished school for two weeks and who needed a place to hang out in all their extra free time. Plus, there was the intrigue that the advertisements for Overclocked must have put into the hearts of the high school students. Will had been advertising today's opening for many weeks now, via flyers and newspaper ads. Obviously, his efforts had been rewarded, as the café was packed. Will was glad that he had already hired some help. He had hired a high school boy who seemed like he would be a good worker. Will could only hope that he would be.

Delvin James walked up to the table where Beth and her friends were sitting. He recognized some of them from school, but he didn't know them personally. He had seen a lot of his friends come in earlier, though. This place was packed even though it was the opening day, meaning that Del had a lot of work on his hands. It was his first day of work, and he already had so many customers to deal with. Oh well, he thought. At least this job pays well. He chuckled a little as he pulled out a notebook and turned to the people at the table.

"Hello," he said, smiling. "What can I get for you guys?" He took out his pen and wrote down their orders as they said them. They handed him their menus and he walked away, promising them that their orders would be there shortly. Walking up to the counter, he told Will what the new comers had ordered. Will smiled at him and began to make them. He pointed to a tray on the counter.

"Those go to table three," he said. Del groaned slightly. The tray was completely full of smoothies, and he knew that it would be difficult to carry. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the tray and headed over to table three. It was a rather shaky journey, and Del almost dropped the tray a few times, but he finally got to the table safely and handed the drinks out to the impatient teenagers. When all the drinks had been passed out, Del headed back to the counter and sat down on a stool, hoping to have a second to recover. But, no, there were already three more trays waiting to go out to their respective tables. Del sighed as he picked up another tray. This job was going to be harder than he thought.

It wasn't long before their drinks were brought to them. This place has pretty fast service, Dan thought, sipping his smoothie happily. Good drinks, too, he added, smiling. The others seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. Dan looked around at the other people in the café. Most of the people there he recognized from school. He couldn't believe how crowded this place was already. He was just about to comment on that when all at once, the sky outside grew dark. Great, black clouds had covered the sun. The café emptied as people went outside and stood in the street, watching the sky, wondering what could have caused this. Dan made his way outside with the others, and they looked up as well, staring at the vast darkness in the sky. Suddenly, an explosion was heard nearby, just across the street from Overclocked. A car had exploded, and a monster stood next to it, grinning. It was obvious that he was the one who had blown up the car.

People began to run away, fleeing in all directions. Only a few people stayed, five of those being Dan, Sean, Peg, Tiz, and Beth. They hesitated, feeling as if somehow they shouldn't leave.

Tiz suddenly felt an urge to close his eyes. As soon as he did, he felt a strange sensation in his body. It started off as a slight tingling, then it progressed into a feeling of electricity surging in his body. He knew that he should be in pain right now, but somehow, it didn't hurt at all. _This must be a dream,_ he thought. Suddenly, he threw his eyes open and looked at his body. Sure enough, electricity was crackling all around him. Screaming, he thrust his hands forward, and the electricity shot towards the monster, striking it, causing it to surge with pain. Suddenly, Tiz felt extremely drained, and he collapsed to his knees, feeling shocked and exhausted. The others just stared at him in bewilderment. Peg walked over to him slowly.

"How did you do that?" she asked. He just shook his head at her.

"I have no idea…"

Peg was about to say something else when she got a strange feeling as well. Turning to face the monster, almost unwillingly, her eyes closed as well. She had a sensation of water rushing around in her body, flowing through her like a river. It didn't hurt at all, as she thought it would. It was almost comforting, and it seemed so natural. It also seemed natural when she put her hands out in front of her and opened her eyes. Water flowed from her outstretched hands and an extremely high pressure, shooting straight into the monster, who was still twitching from the electric shock. The water caused the electricity to intensify, and the monster screamed in pain. Peg felt a sudden weakness, and she fell backwards, gently sitting on the ground, breathing heavily, feeling totally and utterly confused.

Next, it was Sean's turn to feel weird. Walking up and facing the monster, his eyes shut. He felt a rush of wind around him, blowing his clothes about him. The wind was so strong, yet so natural. It didn't seem as if it was coming from behind him, in front of him, or from the sides of him, though. It seemed as if the wind was coming from him. _But that's impossible,_ he thought. Then, he realized that a lot of impossible things were happening today. Opening his eyes, he threw his hands in front of him, causing the wind to intensify, flying straight at the creature. As the wind hit it, sparks came from its body, and it fell over in pain. It got up soon afterwards, but it was obvious that it was weakened. So was Sean, and he collapsed to the ground as well, sitting down, panting.

All of a sudden, Beth felt her body begin to shake as she closed her eyes. It felt like she was shaking inside intensely. It didn't hurt, but she felt the pressure of the shaking was too strong. She felt as if she would explode if the shaking didn't stop soon. Tears began forming in her still closed eyes as she tried to find a way to stop the shaking. Somehow, she felt that, if she focused, she could send the shaking out of her and somewhere else. Opening her eyes, she sent the shaking into the ground, and it began to feel like there was an earthquake all around them. Beth screamed and tried to stop it. Focusing all her thoughts towards the monster, she sent the shaking at him, and a large chunk of earth came up from under the pavement and crashed into him. He collapsed in pain, and so did Beth. She fell over and lay on the ground, unconscious.

Dan watched as his friend passed out. He began to go over to help her, but suddenly he was filled with a feeling similar to what the others had felt. Instead, though, it felt like his body temperature was rising quickly. His eyes closed on their own accord and he felt extreme heat all around him and inside him. It felt as if he was literally on fire, yet it didn't hurt at all. The heat surged through his body and he cried out, not in pain but for reasons he couldn't explain. Opening his eyes, which were now glowing with fire, he put his hands forward and a huge blast of fire flew out of them, hitting the monster, causing it to fall backwards and explode. Dan staggered backwards, but he remained standing, staring at the place where the monster had been. All that was left of him was a pile of ash, blowing away in the slight spring breeze.

Will watched as the teens attacked the monster. He was not surprised, shocked, or confused at all. He was only pleased.

"_I finally found them,_" he thought to himself, smiling. When the monster was destroyed, Will stood in front of the teens. "Follow me," he said. After a quick glance at each other, the high school students got up slowly and began to comply. All except for Beth, who was still laying unconscious on the ground. The others started walking away, until Sean noticed that Beth hadn't moved.

"Wait up, guys," he said, going back and kneeling beside his friend. He shook her gently and called her name softly. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked at him. Her hands went immediately to her head.

"What happened?" she asked, still feeling exhausted. Sean smiled at her.

"I'm not sure," he said gently, helping her stand up. "But I think we're about to find out." The two followed the others into the café, walking silently side by side. Will lead them up to the counter. He hopped over it and pressed a button that was underneath it. Suddenly, much to the surprise of the young onlookers, the wall behind the counter twisted sideways, leaving large gaps on either side. Will smiled at them, then turned and walked through one side, motioning for the others to follow. After a quick glace at each other, they jumped over the counter as well and went in after him, hoping that they would soon learn what had happened to them that day.


	2. The Power of the Elements part 2

A/N: Thanks to juzblue and lil Cwick for your kind reviews! Here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

Episode 2: The Jade Crystals part 2

In a seemingly abandoned tower just outside the town, three figures stood in random places in a large, circular room on the top floor. One was glancing through a telescope. He was about 24 years old, and he had short, jet black hair. His face was stern and cruel, and he had a small scar above his right eye. He wore long, crimson colored pants and a black shirt with flames going up the sides and on the short sleeves. His name was Stephen, and he was the eldest of the Chaos Three. He wielded the power of Dark Fire, and was the strongest amongst his companions.

A girl of about 20 stood in another part of the room, far away from Stephen. She had long, flowing blonde hair that was now in a ponytail behind her head. Her face wore an expression of indifference; she looked neither angry nor happy right now, only a bit bored. She wore light blue pants similar to Stephen's, and a black shirt like his with blue bubbles in place of the fire. Her name was Erica, and she was the second oldest of the Chaos Three. She had the power of Dark Water, and although her power was great, she had to admit that she was the weakest in battle.

The last figure was a boy who was also 20. He had short brown hair and a face that was kinder than those of his companions. His pants were dark yellow, and his black shirt had thunderbolts up the sides and on the sleeves. He also wore a necklace with a locket on it, but it was tucked under the collar of his shirt. His name was Rufus, and he was the youngest of the Chaos Three, although only a few months younger than Erica. He had the power of Dark Thunder, and he was also extremely powerful, but he knew that his power could not compare to Stephen's.

The room was silent as Stephen continued to watch through the telescope. At last, Erica felt that she had to break the silence.

"What do you see, Stephen?" she asked, walking over to him. "Has our monster destroyed them yet?" Stephen looked away from the telescope and glared at her.

"No," he said simply, looking back through the telescope. "They destroyed him."

"What!" she cried, pushing him aside and glancing through the telescope herself. Sure enough, she saw, to her horror, that all that was left of the monster was a pile of ash. The teens were nowhere to be seen. "Where did they go?" she asked. Stephen growled at her and pushed his way back to the telescope.

"They went inside," he said. "Will found them." Rufus came over to the other two.

"Did they use their powers to defeat Ubetic?" he asked, using the name they had given to the monster before they sent it to fight. Stephen simply nodded, focusing the telescope so that he could see inside the café, where the five teens were sitting around a table in a dark room, waiting for Will to tell them what was going on. "Great," Rufus said with a sigh. "Now, they'll get their morphers and then we'll have no hope. I knew attacking this planet was a bad idea. We should have just stayed on Trienith…" His voice stopped abruptly as Erica slapped him upside the head.

"And stayed in hiding?" she asked, glaring at him as he rubbed his head. "Or did you forget that we are wanted back home? At least on Earth no one knows who we are, and we're safe for now."

"And, we have a new planet to try and conquer," Stephen added, looking up from the telescope and smirking evilly. "These humans are defenseless, while the people of Trienith were ready for our attack. These teens are new to their powers, and, chances are, we'll still be able to defeat them. They are just kids, after all." He chuckled a little and turned to Erica. "It's time to conjure up another monster, Erica," he said. "Can you come up with something?"

Erica smiled. "Of course I can," she said. "Just give me a few minutes." With that, she strode out of the room and to her bedroom, laying on her bed and trying to think up the strongest monster she could.

The five high school students sat at the rectangular table in the dark room behind the wall in the Overclocked Café. The only light came from an electric lamp in the middle of the table. It did little to pierce the blackness of the room. All one could see were the faces of those sitting around the table. Will stood at one end and looked at the teens. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before beginning.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what just happened to you out there," he said, his eyes moving from face to face as he spoke. "To explain that, I'll have to go back a bit. There are five main elements in the world: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Thunder. These elements keep peace in the world. As long as they are in harmony, equilibrium, the world is safe from their terrible power. But, if something happens to disrupt that harmony, disaster will strike in the world in which this happens.

"To prevent this from happening, the five elements choose at birth people to give their powers to. The person is selected not because of their birth but because of the person they are destined to be. The people who are chosen will have the power and protection of the elements their whole lives. They grow up and live normally, not even knowing they were chosen, until they are needed, until something happens to disturb equilibrium. Then, the elements grant the people they chose the ability to control them in limited ways, enough to stop whatever is causing the disharmony and to repair equilibrium.

"For centuries, there has been no major disturbance of the elements. No one has known who was chosen, because the chosen people were not needed. Until now. The Chaos Three have come to earth." Will paused, waiting for someone to ask who the Chaos Three were. He did not have to wait long.

"Who are the Chaos Three?" Tiz asked. Will couldn't help but smile a little before continuing.

"The Chaos Three come from the planet Trienith. They have the powers of the Dark Elements, evil versions of the good elements that protect all planets. Although there are five good elements, there are only three Dark Elements: Fire, Water, and Thunder. In the Chaos Three, there's Stephen, the oldest and most powerful, who has the power of Dark Fire, Erica, the second oldest and least powerful, who has the power of Dark Water, and Rufus, the youngest and second most powerful, who has the power of Dark Thunder.

These three tried to conquer their own planet, but they failed, and they had to live in harmony for many years. Now, they have come to earth to try and take over it, by using their Dark Elements to destroy the good ones. If they do that, the equilibrium between the elements will be broken, and the world will be under the power of the Dark Elements, and therefore under the power of the Chaos Three. When they sent that monster down, the elements knew that it was time to come forth, and to bring out the powers inside of their chosen people. Those people that they chose are you five."

Silence filled the room as Will said this. The teens looked at each other, confused. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. For what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes, no one spoke. At last, Dan felt he had to say something.

"But, why us?" he asked. "Of all the people in the world, why did the elements choose us?"

"As I said, the elements choose people based on who they are destined to become. Dan," Will said, looking at him, "because of your fiery personality and your strong leadership skills, you were chosen by the Element of Fire. Peg, because of your intense, independent personality, you were chosen by the Element of Water. Tiz, because of your strong, solemn personality, you were chosen by the Element of Thunder. Beth, because of your kind, gentle personality, you were chosen by the Element of Earth. Sean, because of your brave, powerful personality, you were chosen by the Element of Wind." Will looked at each of them as he told them their elements. They didn't know how he knew all their names, but they decided not to question it.

"So, now what?" Peg asked after a pause. "We can't just keep attacking them the way we did today, can we?"

"Yeah," Dan said. "That battle took a lot out of us."

"That's because the powers given to you by the elements are limited," Will said. "You can use them all the time, but you can only do big attacks like the ones you did today if you focus all your energy on it. That's why you felt so exhausted after the battle. After those attacks, you won't be able to use your powers again for a while, at least not in such a powerful way."

"Wait," Tiz said. "What if they attack again before we can recharge, or whatever? We won't be able to do anything, will we?" Will smiled and pulled something from under the table. It was a medium sized, metal box. He opened it to reveal five, multicolored wristwatches.

"That's what these are for," he said, as the others looked into the box.

"What are those?" Beth asked.

"These are your Power Ranger morphers," Will said.

"Power Rangers?" Sean asked, confused. "We're Power Rangers now?"

"Yes," Will replied. "If you will accept it. These morphers draw their power from your elements, and they will only work for you. You are earth's only hope now. Will you accept these morphers and the chance to save the world?" He gave each of them a serious look in turn, and the room was quiet as they thought over everything they had heard that day. At last, Dan reached forward and grabbed the Red wristwatch, strapping it on his left wrist.

"I'm in," he said simply. The others looked at him for a second before following his example. Peg took the Blue morpher, Tiz took the Yellow one, Beth took the Green one, and Sean took the White one. When they had all strapped on their morphers, they looked at Will expectantly.

"Now what?" Sean asked.

"Now, we wait for them to attack again. I have a feeling that we won't be waiting long."

"I've got it!" Erica came out of her room, smiling proudly. She walked up to Stephen. "I have the perfect idea for a monster." Rufus came over to where they were standing.

"So, let's create this thing, shall we?" he said, grinning. Stephen just nodded, and the three got into a circle, putting their hands up within inches of each other. They closed their eyes and focused, Erica focusing the hardest. It wasn't long before something started to happen. A figure appeared in the middle of the circle, fading in from seemingly nowhere. Each of the Chaos Three began to glow Red, Blue, and Yellow respectively. The light from each of them swirled around the figure that was appearing before them. It quickly came entirely into being. It was all black and it had strange markings all around it. A large, gold sword appeared in its hand. The Chaos Three put their hands at their sides, going back to normal positions. Stephen looked the new monster up and down.

"It looks strong, Erica," he said, smiling approvingly. "You have done well. He should be able to defeat them, especially since they've just used up all of their power. Send him to Earth," he added, turning to Rufus. He walked over to the telescope and gazed inside it. Rufus nodded, and looked at the creature.

"Your name shall be Kirax," he said, smiling. With that, the monster teleported away, landing right in front of the café. Suddenly, Stephen cried out in anger.

"No!" he yelled. "Will has given them their morphers!"

"What!" Erica cried. "How is that possible?" Stephen didn't answer. He continued looking through the telescope angrily. "Now what hope do we have?" Erica sighed.

"There is still hope," Rufus said, sounding as if he meant it. "Kirax still has a chance to beat them." Erica turned and looked at him silently for a moment. She sighed again.

"I hope you're right."

The five teens rushed outside, Will following behind them. He had just finished telling them everything they needed to know about being Power Rangers when they heard an explosion outside. Sure enough, there was Kirax, slashing at cars with his sword. When he saw the teens, he turned to them and grinned. Dan stepped forward, a defiant look on his face. Looking back at his friends, he smiled.

"Let's do this, guys!" he cried. "Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

Each of the new Rangers called out their respective elements. With that, five Power Rangers stood in place of the teenagers who had been standing there before. Each one had a suit that was their color, and they had on their chests a symbol showing their element. They wasted no time, and they rushed in and started fighting with Kirax.

Somehow, each of them found that they could suddenly use karate in ways they never knew they could before. They figured it must be the power of the elements that gave them that ability, so they didn't question it and they continued to fight with the monster. He was strong, though, and his sword was a great advantage for him. Will saw this, and he knew that the Rangers needed help.

"Call on your weapons!" he cried. They nodded at him.

"Red Fire Sword!"

"Blue Water Trident!"

"White Wind Bow!"

"Green Earth Daggers!"

"Yellow Thunder Sai!"

With that, the weapon they called out appeared in their hands. They stared at their weapons in awe.

"These are so cool!" Beth said, grinning from under her helmet. She rushed forward and attacked the monster with her daggers. Sean began shooting arrows at Kirax, causing sparks to fly off of him. Peg stabbed the creature with her trident, and Tiz attacked with his sai. Although their weapons were very helpful, none of them were a match for Kirax's sword.

"Let me try, guys!" Dan said, facing Kirax. The others just nodded to him and backed away. Dan walked up to Kirax and began fighting him with his Fire Sword. After a while, Dan threw Kirax's sword from him. Kirax stepped back, scared. Without his sword, he was powerless, he knew. Dan looked around at his teammates.

"Let's put them together, guys," he said. They nodded. Dan held his sword out straight in front of him. Peg put her trident on top of it, the sharp end facing forwards. Sean then put his bow sideways towards the top of the trident. Beth put her daggers on the undersides of the bow, the blade facing backwards. To top it off, Tiz placed his sai on the top of the bow. Dan held the weapon by the hilt of his sword, and the others stood beside him.

"Ready, aim, fire!" they called, all at the same time. A large blast of energy shot out of the sword and from the daggers and hit Kirax right in the chest. The monster collapsed immediately and exploded, leaving no trace of it ever having been there. The Rangers cheered over their second victory of the day.

Stephen growled over their second defeat of the day. He couldn't believe that the new Rangers had destroyed two monster of his so quickly. It wouldn't happen again, though, he decided. Next time, the Rangers wouldn't stand a chance. He would make sure of that. Stephen brushed past Erica, who was standing near him, and he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.


	3. Trial by Fire

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm glad you like it! This chapter is longer than the others, and I think it's much better. It shows more of the personalities of the characters. I'm going to do what SPD did and have introductory episodes for each of the characters that focus on them. This episode is Dan's episode. Enjoy!

Episode 3: Trial by Fire

Daniel McCue sat at a booth in the Overclocked Café waiting for his friends to show up. He was sipping a smoothie and looking around him at the other students who were there. Although this place had only been open for two days now, it had become a popular hang out spot amongst teens. Will had had to hire another worker, because the load had quickly become too much for Del to handle by himself. He hired Beth, but she wasn't working until later that day.

Dan checked his watch, which was, of course, also his morpher. It read 2:47. The others were supposed to be here by 3:00, meaning that he still had a while to wait. His mind wandered back to the events of yesterday. In one day, he had learned so much, and he had changed so much as well. He felt that he was no longer a normal high school student; careless and carefree, and perfectly happy to be that way. Now, he had responsibility beyond what anyone else his age had, besides, of course, his friends and fellow Rangers. He was a super hero now, and it was his job to protect the Earth from the Chaos Three. It seemed almost too much to bear.

Of course, it wasn't as if the responsibility was his alone. He still had his team mates to help him. He remembered, though, that Will had said that Dan, as the Red Ranger, was supposed to be the leader. He was the one who would make the important decisions; he was the one who the others would follow. That thought kind of scared him. It meant that most of the responsibility was still his, and that a lot of pressure would be put on him to make the right choices. He only hoped that he wouldn't screw things up.

All of a sudden, Dan felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise and turned around to see Tiz there laughing at him.

"You should have seen the look on your face, dude," said the Yellow Ranger as he sat on the other side of the booth.

"Sorry," Dan said, laughing as well. "I was just thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself now," Tiz said, smiling. Dan just shook his head at him. "You thinking about what happened yesterday?"

"Of course," the Red Ranger said. "What else would I be thinking about?" At that moment, Peg walked in. From where Dan was sitting, his back was facing her, but Tiz could see her perfectly. He gestured towards her, a playful smile on his face.

"I don't know," he said simply, grinning at his friend. "What else would you be thinking about?" Dan gave him a confused look as Peg came over and sat next to him.

"Hello, boys," she said, smiling. "How are we today?" Her voice was bright and bouncy, signifying that she was in a good mood today.

"Well, considering what happened yesterday, I'm okay, I guess," Tiz said, shrugging his shoulders. Beth walked up then and sat next to him, yawning.

"I didn't get any sleep last night," she said, her voice showing her tiredness. "I was up all night thinking about…you know what." The others at the table nodded.

"It was the same with me," Peg said.

"Me too," said Dan. "But, I'm up all night anyways, so I'm not tired at all." He grinned, and the others laughed a little, knowing that it was true.

"Me three," Tiz agreed.

"Me four," came the voice of Sean as he walked up to the table. "So, what are we talking about?" He chuckled as he sat next to Peg. Beth felt a twinge of disappointment that he hadn't sat next to her, but she was careful not to show it.

"Nothing, Sean," Peg said with a chuckle. "Never mind."

"Okay." Sean just smiled. Silence filled the table as Del walked up.

"Hey, Beth," he said, looking at his coworker.

"Hi, Del," she answered, smiling a bit shyly.

"Can I get you guys anything?" Del took out his notebook and pen and prepared to take orders. After everyone had ordered, he walked away to the counter.

"Interesting day yesterday, wasn't it?" Sean asked after a pause.

"Yep," Tiz said simply.

Dan sighed. "I guess we can only hope that they won't attack again today."

On the other side of town, in the abandoned tower where the Chaos Three dwelt, Rufus also sighed. The defeats yesterday had been hard on all of them, but Stephen had taken them the worst. He was in one of his moods where you couldn't even talk to him without getting blasted with Dark Fire. Right now, he was in his room, mulling over a new plan he was trying to come up with. Erica was in her room as well, doing who knew what. Rufus was the only one in the main room, and he was bored.

Peering through the telescope, he saw the five new Rangers sitting at a table in Will's café, talking. He wished that he could hear what they were saying. At least that would be entertaining on this uneventful day. Sighing again, he left the telescope and wandered into his room. Lying on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling. He brought his hands out in front of him and pointed his fingers at each other, sending little lightning bolts across the gap. He smiled. It was always fun to use his powers, even in small amounts. Just then, Erica walked in and sat on the foot of Rufus' bed, giving him a strange look.

"Stephen said not to use our powers lightly," she said.

Rufus chuckled. "Stephen said a lot of things I don't care to listen to." Erica laughed as well, nodding in agreement.

"This is such a boring day," she said after a pause. "I wish Stephen would come up with some sort of plan. At least then we'd have something to do."

"Yeah," Rufus said, sighing again. He thought for a second before saying anything else. "Do you ever wish that we could have stayed on Trienith?" Erica looked at him coldly, beginning to feel angry. They had already gone over this a million times. But, when she saw how serious and sincere he looked, her anger melted.

"Yeah," she said with an effort. "I do. But, we both know why we had to leave."

"Of course," Rufus said. "But, I just wish that it was possible for us to have stayed. This planet is so different from home."

"I know," Erica agreed. "I…" At that moment, she was cut off by Stephen coming into the room. He motioned for them to follow him.

"I may have a plan that will help us defeat those teenagers," he said, his voice dull and emotionless. The two followed him out of the room, hoping that he was right.

When Dan awoke the next morning, he immediately knew that something was wrong. It didn't take long to figure out what it was as the strong smell of smoke floated towards him. His room was filled with the black smoke as he looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. Jumping out of bed, he rushed out of his room and found the fire extinguisher in the closet. Running back to his room, he now saw the flames coming from his carpet at the foot of his bed. He turned on the extinguisher and sprayed carbon dioxide all over until the fire was out. It didn't take very long, because he had caught it before it had a chance to spread.

Sitting on his bed, he heaved a sigh of relief and set the extinguisher on the ground next to him. As he waited for his heart to stop racing and his breathing to return to normal, Dan tried to think about what could have caused this. It didn't seem logical that a fire could start in such a random place in his room for no reason…

Then, it hit him. He looked at his hands oddly. Was there any way that he could have done it in his sleep with his new power? But, no, he thought. That was impossible. He had perfect control over his power, right? Of course he did. Then, how did the fire start? He decided not to think about that as he checked the clock. It was almost 8:00, which meant that he was the only person in the house. His father and his brother would be at work now, which was good for him. It meant that they wouldn't have to know about the fire.

Dan remembered that he was supposed to meet his friends at the Overclocked Café at 9:00 that morning. Although he still had an hour, he decided to go now. He really didn't want to be in the house anymore. He dressed quickly and headed out to his car.

If he had still been in his room, he would have heard the soft, dark laughter that was coming from the corner. He would also have noticed that there seemed to be nothing there causing the laughter. But, as the laughter grew louder and more menacing, a figure began to appear in the area where it was coming from. Soon, it was apparent who the figure was. It was Stephen, leaning up against the wall, an evil smirk on his face, tossing a fireball in his hand. As soon as he had fully materialized, he gave one last look at the room he was in, then he teleported out in a red light.

Stephen appeared in the large room in the tower. Rufus and Erica, who had been alternating watching through the telescope, walked over to him and smiled.

"The plan worked perfectly, Stephen," Erica said, smirking.

"Of course it did," he said, smiling as well. "But that was only phase one. Next time, it will be a lot bigger." With that, he walked off into his room and closed the door behind him. Rufus and Erica looked at each other, then they went to their respective rooms as well.

Dan walked into the café at 8:15. His brow was wrinkled with worry and deep thought. He sat at the same table they had sat at yesterday and stared at the top of it, his mind wandering. At this hour of the morning, the place was quiet, and there weren't many people here yet. Del was on the other side of the counter cleaning dishes, and Will was sitting on one of the stools, reading something or other. When he noticed Dan come in, though, he put down his book and walked across the café. He sat on the other side of the table from Dan and looked at him.

"You don't look so good today," he said, concern in his voice. "Is anything wrong?"

Dan hesitated before continuing. Did he really want to tell Will what had happened? Sighing, he decided that he could trust Will with this information, so he told him about the events of that morning. "Is there really any way that my powers could have gone out of control?" he asked when he was finished.

"Well," Will said slowly. "It's not unheard of. I do remember that some of the chosen people have had problems controlling their powers." Seeing the worried expression on Dan's face, he put his hand on his arm, which was resting on the table, and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, though," he said. "You'll get the hang of it eventually. At least no serious harm was caused."

"Yeah," Dan said half-heartedly. "At least that."

Will got up then and went back to the counter, realizing that the Red Ranger probably needed some time alone right now. It wasn't long, though, before Beth came in. She was supposed to work that day. She went up to the counter and smiled at Will.

"Some crowd this morning, eh?" she said, laughing. Will chuckled a little. "So, do you have anything for me to do right now?"

"Well," he said. "Del is about done with the dishes, and there's no one here yet, so, no, I really don't have anything for you to do. You can just hang out until people start coming, okay?"

"Okay!" Beth said in a cheerful voice. She went over to the table where Dan was sitting. Seeing the look on his face, she became worried. "Hey, Dan, is something wrong?" she asked. He looked up at her as she sat across from him.

"Yes," he said. "But, I'll explain when the others come. I don't really feel like telling it 5 times." With that, he continued staring at the table. All was silent until the others came around 9:00. When they had all sat down at the table, Dan explained once more what had happened that morning.

Peg put her arm around Dan's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure it won't happen again. You'll get the hang of it."

"Yeah," Sean said. "These powers will just take some getting used to." Dan smiled at them.

"Thanks, guys," he said in a quiet voice. "I hope you're right."

"Me too," Tiz said, grinning. "Or, at least I hope that if your power does go out of control again, I'm not around when it happens." Everyone had to laugh at that, even Dan. Conversation continued as usual, and after a while more people began flocking into the café.

"I guess that's my cue," Beth said, standing up. "I'll talk to you guys later!" She waved and they waved back at her as she began to work, taking orders from the people who had just come in.

Suddenly, Dan got the same feeling he had gotten that morning. The feeling that something wasn't right. To his horror, the same smell that had greeted him that morning was coming back; the smell of smoke and fire. He looked around to see where it was coming from. It didn't take long to find it. An empty table near them was engulfed in flame, and people were rushing out of the café.

"Oh, no," Dan whispered as he and his friends stood up. They were about to leave the café as well when Peg spoke up.

"Wait," she said. "I think I can put it out." She walked up to the table, which was burning intensely, and put her hands out in front of her. A large gush of water began to flow from them, attacking the flames on the table. Soon, they were out completely, but so was Peg. She teetered for a few moments, then began to fall backwards. Luckily, Dan was close enough to catch her before she hit the ground.

Will came rushing up. "What happened?" he asked breathlessly. "How did that fire start?"

"I can only begin to imagine," Dan said grimly as he laid Peg gently on the floor. Then, he stood up and walked out of the café, ignoring the voices of his friends behind him. He got into his car and started driving. He didn't know where he was going. All he knew was that it was anywhere but here.

Back at the café, Del walked up to the Rangers as they stood near the ruins of the table and the unconscious Peg on the floor. His eyes and mouth were open wide with shock.

"How in the world…?" he breathed, staring at them in confusion. Will put his hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Del," he said. "Promise me that you won't tell anyone what you just saw, okay?"

"But, how could I?" the boy responded. "I'm not even entirely sure what I just saw…" His voice trailed off in confusion. Will smiled at him and shook his head.

Stephen teleported back to the tower for the second time that day. Erica and Rufus greeted him, smiling.

"That was awesome!" Erica exclaimed. "The Red Ranger really thinks his powers are going out of control!"

"Yep," Rufus said, nodding enthusiastically.

"It's only a matter of time before he becomes afraid of his power," Stephen said, grinning evilly. "The best way to take down a team is to take out their leader. Without him, the others will be powerless to stop us. We just have to convince him that he has no control over his power, and then, he will never use it again. I think maybe one or two 'accidents' might push him over the edge." He made a fireball in his hand as he said this, his eyes glowing with red flame. He gave his evil laugh again. "Send me to where he is, Rufus," he said, looking at the younger boy.

"Okay, Stephen," Rufus said. As soon as he said his name, the oldest member of the Chaos Three teleported away in a flash of red light.

He reappeared near a small bar that was located right outside of town. It was a rather secluded area, and there were few other buildings around it. Just as Stephen teleported, Dan drove up in his car and parked. The bar was rather crowded that day, and Dan had to park kind of far away, which normally would have annoyed him. Today, though, he felt too depressed to be annoyed. He was too deep in his thoughts to notice that as he walked through the door of the bar, a deep laughter echoed next to him.

He sat at a table near the door, staring at the wall. It was the only table where no one was sitting. Everywhere else in the bar was crowded, and the place was noisy. Dan didn't care, though. He did some of his best thinking in loud places like this. As a waitress came up to ask for his order, the feeling of something being wrong came back. A sense of dread flooded over Dan as he smelled smoke for the third time that day. Turning around, he saw that the fire was at the bar behind the counter, and it was spreading fast. Most of the things in this bar were made of wood, so they would burn quickly.

Smoke hung thickly in the air as people began scrambling for the door. It wasn't long before everyone was out of the bar and standing in the parking lot, watching as the flames took over the small building. Tears of shame, guilt, and frustration fell from Dan's eyes as he walked off to his car. Starting the engine, he drove home quickly. When he got there, he ran into his room and grabbed a suitcase from his closet. Throwing it on the bed, he began to pack clothes and other important things in it. When he was finished, he closed the suitcase and picked it up, heading back out to his car.

Dan drove straight to the café. When he got there, he found that the others were still there, cleaning up the mess from where the table had burned. Dan wiped the tears from his eyes and went inside. When they saw him enter, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and ran over to him.

"Dan!" Peg cried. "Where did you go? We were worried about you." The Red Ranger looked at them solemnly.

"Guys," he said. "I'm leaving. My powers are too out of control, and I have to go somewhere where no one can be hurt by them." He turned and faced Will. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find someone else to be the Red Ranger." Will shook his head.

"There is no one else, Dan," he said. "The Element of Fire chose you, and, to quote Lord of the Rings, 'if you do not find a way, no one will.'"

"Then I guess no one will." With that Dan turned around and was about to leave when Peg ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

"Dan," she said softly. "You can't leave…" He turned and looked at her.

"I have to," he said. "It's too dangerous. I…I don't want to hurt anyone…"

Sean walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"You won't," he said. "Please don't go, Dan. We need you here…" His voice was cut off by a soft, evil laughter coming from a corner of the room.

"What the heck is that?" Beth asked as everyone turned to face the corner.

"I don't know," Tiz said. "But I know one way to find out." He put a hand forward and shot an electric bolt towards the sound. The laughing was cut off by a loud scream of pain, and a figure materialized in the corner. It was a man, crouched on his hands and knees, clutching his chest in pain, glaring at them in anger.

"Who are you?" Peg asked, giving him the same glare he was giving them.

"It's Stephen," Will answered in an emotionless tone. "The leader of the Chaos Three and the wielder of the Dark Fire." The others looked at Will, then back at Stephen, who had now stood up.

"It's good to know you still remember me, Will," he said, grinning evilly at him. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" He made a fire ball in his hand and began to toss it up and down, catching it each time.

"It was you who started those fires, wasn't it?" Will asked. It was obvious by his tone that he knew he was right.

"Very good, William," Stephen said, sarcasm evident in his voice. "You're just as smart as I remember you. You've discovered my plan. It was simple enough. Make the Red Ranger think his powers were going out of control so that he would leave, rendering his team helpless. It was a good plan. I'm only sorry that I got caught up in the moment and ruined it." He smirked at them. "Oh, well," he said. "At least it was entertaining while it lasted."

Dan clenched his fists and glared at Stephen. If looks could kill, the leader of the Chaos Three would have died instantly. Dan growled in anger and ran forward, his fist ready to punch Stephen. Unfortunately, the instant that Dan would have touched him, he teleported away in a red glow, his laughter echoing throughout the room.

Stephen appeared back in the tower and looked at his companions.

"Well, the plan has failed," he sighed. "We might as well give them a little battle to end the day, right? Erica, got any ideas?" The girl nodded.

"Yep," she said. "I've been working on this one all day."

"Good," Stephen said. "Let's do this, shall we?" The other two nodded as they formed a circle again. The monster materialized in the middle of them. It looked strong enough, Stephen decided. "All right, Rufus. Send him out there."

Rufus smiled. "Let's see," he said, pondering. "You're name shall be Taxonith." As soon as the name was given, the monster teleported away in a deep purple light.

Much to the annoyance of the Rangers still at the café, a monster appeared outside. Sighing, they went out after it.

"Ready, guys?" Dan asked, anger simmering in his voice. They nodded.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

The five teens morphed into the Element Storm Power Rangers and began to fight the monster. They called out their weapons and began to attack all at once. The monster was just as strong as he looked, though, and the battle was tough. Dan slashed at Taxonith with his sword, but the monster kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Beth jumped in and kicked the monster, stabbing it with her daggers. She too was kicked back, though. Peg and Tiz flipped in and used their weapons together, fighting side by side. Sean came up from behind and shot an arrow at Taxonith's head. The monster cried out in pain and threw Peg and Tiz out of his way.

"I think it's time to put them together, guys," Beth suggested. They nodded, and they put their weapons together.

"Ready, aim, fire!" they cried in unison, and Dan fired the weapon at Taxonith's chest. The monster exploded instantly, leaving only a pile of ash where he had once been.

Stephen growled in anger. How could they have defeated Taxonith so quickly? He glared at Erica.

"Next time, come up with something better," he said. With that, he stormed off to his room. The other two members of the Chaos Three just looked at each other. They laughed nervously, then went off to their rooms as well.

A/N:

lil Cwick: I'm glad you like Tiz's name. His friends actually do call him that!

juzblue: Actually, the sai was chosen by the Yellow Ranger in my RP on Ranger-Power. I looked up a picture of it, and it's pretty much a dagger-type sword, I think. It's a bit longer than most daggers.


	4. Water Pressure

A/N: Here's the next chapter, guys. Sorry it took so long to get it up. I changed how I was going to write it about 10 times. lol Anyways, this is Peg's episode. Next will come Tiz's ep, then Beth's, then Sean's. This episode is a lot longer than my other eps. Enjoy!

Episode 4: Water Pressure

The Chaos Three each stood in different places in the main room in their tower, each doing different things. Stephen was gazing through the telescope as usual, watching every move the new Power Rangers were making. Rufus was off in a corner of the room, sitting up against the wall, reading something or other. When Erica had asked him what he was reading earlier, he had hid it behind his back, blushing profusely, refusing to let her see it. Normally, she would have forced him to let her see it, but this time, she had decided to just let it go. Now, she was in another part of the room, leaning against a wall, staring off into space. She let out a loud sigh.

"I'm bored," she said, surprised at how loud her voice sounded after the long silence. The others gave a start and looked at her for a second, one with anger, the other with pity. Stephen gave her an icy stare before turning back to the telescope.

"Then do something," he said in a toneless voice.

"But, there's nothing _to_ do," she said, walking over to a window and looking out of it. "I wish I could go out there for a while." This time, Stephen gave her his full attention.

"What!" he cried. "And jeopardize our secrecy? Don't you even think about doing that."

"Wait," Erica said, holding her hands in front of her. "I have an idea. If I go out there, I could make friends with the Rangers and get them to trust me. If I do that, I can find out everything about them; their strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, pet peeves, fears, anything that could be useful to our plan. What do you say, Stephen?"

The oldest member of the Chaos Three looked at her thoughtfully.

"Hmm," he said. "You might have something there. Alright, you can go, but, whatever happens, don't let Will see you. The others won't recognize you, of course, but he did recognize me, and he will know you if he sees you as well." Erica smiled.

"No worries, Stephen," she said in a cheerful voice. "I'll be sure to stay away from him." She turned to the youngest of the Chaos Three, who was watching them with interest. "Rufus, a little help?" He nodded at her.

"Good luck, Erica," he said. The instant he said her name, Erica teleported away.

Peggy Ryan sat in the park, leaning against a tree. She had a notebook in her lap and a pen in her hand. The page the notebook was open too was almost filled with writing, and the pen was still scribbling along the lines as Peg continued to write. Writing fanfiction, as she was doing now, was one of her favorite pass times. Luckily, the park was quiet right then, so she could write in peace. Normally, there were kids running around, playing and screaming, interrupting her thoughts. She continued to come here to work, though, because she seemed to get her best inspirations in this park.

Suddenly, though, to her annoyance, a flock of kids appeared and began playing a noisy game of tag right behind her. Apparently, the tree she was sitting under was "safe". Sighing loudly, she knew that she would never get any peace now. Standing up, she closed her notebook and walked away, sticking her pen in her pocket. Now where could she go to write? Sighing deeply, Peg realized that the only other place she could go was home.

She was just about to start walking there when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, wait up!" Peg turned around to see a girl running up to her. Her long blonde hair was held up in a ponytail behind her head. She wore black pants and a plain blue shirt, along with tall black boots. Peg couldn't imagine anyone wearing boots this time of year, but she decided not to question it. The girl stopped when she was only a few feet away from the Blue Ranger, panting slightly.

"You walk fast," she said, smiling. Peg looked at her strangely.

"Um, who are you?" she said. "And why are you following me?"

"Oh, sorry. How rude of me!" The girl laughed and extended her hand to Peg. "My name is Erica. I just moved here, and I was wondering if you could show me around?"

Peg shook the girl's hand, still eyeing her cautiously. "I'm Peggy Ryan," she said. "But everyone calls me Peg."

"It's nice to meet you, Peg," Erica said, smiling brightly. Her handshake was very strong, the other girl noticed. "As I said, I just moved here, and I'd love to see more of this town. It seems so nice here."

"Yeah, Tempus is a nice town," Peg agreed. "Would you like me to give you the grand tour, Erica?" This girl seemed nice enough to the Blue Ranger, and she decided to help her out. She nodded excitedly and started walking away. Peg walked next to her, sighing softly. She was a bit disappointed with being interrupted in her writing, but she was happier that she was making a new friend.

Stephen watched all of this through the telescope. He noticed that it did not take long for Erica to convince the Blue Ranger to trust her. He only wished that he could here what they were saying. Smirking, he realized that it would be pretty easy to figure out the kinds of things Erica would say in this situation. The girl was very predictable, as Stephen had always found.

He continued to watch her as she followed Peg around. It seemed to him that the two were becoming friends. Excellent, he thought. Erica might actually do something right for a change. As he watched them, he had an idea.

"Rufus," he said, turning to him and smirking. "What say we send down the Crodus?" The younger boy looked up from his book and smiled at Stephen.

"Sounds like a plan."

It wasn't until late that evening that Peg and Erica were finally ready to go home. Erica decided to walk Peg to her house. They had spent the entire day walking around the town, and the Blue Ranger had shown her new friend everything there was to see. Everything, that is, except the Overclocked Café. For some reason, Erica had not wanted to go there, even though Peg had told her what a great place it was. She thought that was kind of strange, but she decided not to question it.

The two were about a block away from Peg's house when suddenly a pack of strange, human-like figures appeared, seemingly from nowhere. They were completely black and were hard to see against the evening light. The two girls just stared in horror as the black things surrounded them. Peg could only guess that these were sent from the Chaos Three, meaning that they must be foot soldiers. She sighed as she looked at her companion. With her there, she definitely couldn't morph, so they were on their own. She couldn't just let the things attack them, though, and she decided she would have to fight.

One of the foot soldiers came straight at Peggy, and she kicked it hard in the chest. It flew backwards and took a few of the others with it. Then, they began to attack with full force, all coming at the girls at once. The Blue Ranger started to fight back. She kicked one on her left then turned to her right and punched one in the face, causing it to fall over. Suddenly one grabbed her from behind. She grabbed on to its arms and flipped it over her. It landed right in front of her, and she kicked it away. Erica stood near her, watching, her eyes wide open with fright and surprise.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" she asked in a soft voice. Peg's mind raced, trying to think of a good enough excuse as she continued to battle.

"Um, I took karate lessons when I was younger," she said, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her companion's curiosity. "Erica, go hide somewhere," she said in a firm tone. "I'll take care of these guys." Her friend nodded and ducked into the nearest alley. Peg looked to make sure she wasn't watching, and then she lifted her left wrist to her lips, using the morpher as a communicator as Will had shown them to do. She called Dan first.

"Uh, Dan, I'm in trouble here," she said, hoping that he wasn't asleep or something. He answered soon, though.

"Peg, where are you?" he asked in a worried tone. She gave him her location and continued to fight. "I'll be right there, and I'll bring the others with me."

Erica watched from her spot in the alley, laughing softly. Although she hated Stephen at times, she had to admit that he had exceptionally good timing. It was brilliant for him to send down the Crodus now, when Peg was the only Ranger around, and when she was still with Erica, meaning that she couldn't morph. After all, she didn't want to give up that she was a Power Ranger, did she? Of course not. Erica smirked. This would be great. Peg would have to fight these guys all by herself.

Although, as the second oldest member of the Chaos Three noticed, the Blue Ranger was holding her own against the foot soldiers. She watched in slight disgust as Peg thrashed Crodus left and right. She guessed that they were fortunate that Stephen had sent so many down. Even if Peg could beat some of them, she was bound to wear out soon enough. Then, it would be easy to take her down.

All of a sudden, much to the relief of the Blue Ranger, who was still fighting the Crodus, the other four Rangers appeared, running down the street to her. She sighed as they attacked the foot soldiers. Dan gave her a questioning look.

"Why didn't you morph, Peg?" he asked as he kicked a Crodu into one that was behind it.

"Shhh." Peg put her finger to her lips, hushing Dan. "I'm with a friend of mine," she whispered. "I couldn't let her know that I'm a Ranger. She's hiding over there." She pointed to the alley she had seen Erica go to.

"Then, you'd better go hide with her," Dan said in the same soft voice. Peg nodded, a look of disappointment on her face, as she went over to the alley and crouched next to Erica, who smiled at her.

"Wow, that was amazing fighting, Peggy!" she exclaimed, giving her friend an appraising look. The Blue Ranger chuckled.

"Thanks," she said. "But, it's a good thing that the Power Rangers came when they did." Erica nodded, and the two continued to watch the Rangers fight with the Crodus.

"Hiyah!" Beth cried as she jumped and kicked a Crodu in the chest. She grabbed a nearby one by the arm and flung it into another, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.

Sean ran at a Crodu and flipped over it, kicking backwards and hitting it in the back. It fell over flat on its face. The White Ranger laughed as he punched another enemy into the wall. He didn't notice when a Crodu came up from behind him. It wasn't until he was lying on the ground face first from getting kicked in the back that he knew the thing was there. It was just about to attack him again when Tiz came and kicked it in the side, sending it flying in the other direction. He smiled from under his helmet as he reached down and helped Sean up.

Dan pulled out his sword and started slashing at Crodus left and right. Sparks flew from their bodies as they were hit, causing them to collapse to the ground. The others were just about to call on their weapons as well when the Crodus suddenly disappeared. The Rangers looked around, confused.

"Where did they all go?" Beth asked.

"I don't know," Tiz said. "But at least they're gone for now."

"Those guys were tougher than they looked," Sean remarked. The other two nodded. Dan said nothing to them. He went over to the alley where Peg and Erica were hiding.

"Are you two okay?" he asked. They nodded at him as they stood up from their crouching positions. "Good. Hopefully those guys won't attack you again." He motioned to his team mates. "Come on, guys," he said. With that, the four Rangers ran off, disappearing into the now night time sky.

"Well, that was weird," Erica said. Peg nodded at her.

"We should get home," she responded.

"That might be a good idea." Erica laughed a little as the two resumed walking to Peg's house.

Stephen slammed his fist into the table next to the telescope. The plan had failed, all because the other Rangers had come in. If it hadn't been for that, he knew, the Crodus would have eventually destroyed the Blue Ranger. Oh, well, he thought. At least Erica might have learned some valuable information in the time she had spent with Peg.

It wasn't long before Erica appeared back at the tower. She smiled at Stephen.

"Nice touch sending down the Crodus when you did," she said. He just nodded and looked at her expectantly.

"So," he said casually. "Did we learn anything about our new 'friend' today?"

Erica grinned at him and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, yes," she said. "Lots." She laughed a little, then proceeded to share with Stephen and Rufus, who had come over and was looking at Erica eagerly, everything that she had learned that day about Peg…

The next morning, Peggy Ryan woke up sleepily, opening her eyes slowly. What she saw made her scream. A face was leaning over her. She cried out and ducked away. Then, the face started laughing. Peg looked closer at it as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight that filled her room. She sighed deeply as she saw who it was. It was only Angela. She took her pillow and threw it at her.

"How many times have I told you not to do that!" she cried, laughing as well. Angela threw the pillow back at her.

"I'm not sure," she said, her eyes still laughing. "I've lost count!" Peg rolled her eyes at her and yawned.

"What time is it?" she asked, sleepiness still apparent in her voice.

"10:00," Angela said simply.

"10:00! How in the world did I sleep in that late?" Angela just shrugged and left the room. Peg yawned again and got up. As she moved, she realized how she had slept that late. Soreness and stiffness flooded her body. That battle last night with the strange foot soldiers was beginning to tell on her, she knew.

As she got dressed, she thought about Angela. She loved her sister, but she could be really annoying sometimes. Angela wasn't technically her sister, but she had always thought of her that way. Her family had adopted Angela from Asia when she was less than a year old. Peg had been 1 year old at the time. Her father had gone all the way to Asia to pick up their adoptee. The girls didn't learn that Angela had been adopted until they Peg was 8 years old. It didn't bother them, though, nor did it change anything. They were sisters in spirit, whether by blood or not.

Because she was older, Peg had always felt extremely protective of her sister. Once, when she was in 5th grade and Angela was in 4th, a "big sixth grade" boy was picking on the younger girl during recess. Peg saw this, and she ran over from all the way on the other side of the playground and punched the guy in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to keel over. He was fine in a few minutes, of course, but he had learned his lesson. The whole school had, apparently, and they were careful not to do anything to make Peg mad ever again. For fighting in school, Peg was suspended for a day and grounded for a month, but it was worth it, she knew. She had protected her sister. That was all that mattered.

The two girls had their share of arguments, as all sisters did. The fact that they shared a room didn't make it any easier not to fight sometimes. There was always the question of who made this mess and who had to clean that and who needed to stay on who's side of the room, but these arguments were minor, and they were few and far between. For the most part, they got along just fine. They always knew that they could tell each other anything, and they trusted each other. Peg wished that she could tell Angela about being a Power Ranger, but she knew that wasn't possible. As Will had told them, their most precious possession were their secret identities. Those were never to be revealed, unless at the most dire of needs.

After getting dressed, Peg headed out to the kitchen to get breakfast. Angela was there, cooking something over the stove top.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she said, grinning at her sister. "I'm making you some pancakes. Mom made them this morning, but since you slept in, you missed out. So, now you have to deal with my pancakes instead." Peg chuckled as she sat down at the table. It wasn't long before Angela set a plate in front of her with two good sized pancakes on it. The syrup was already on the table, and Peg grabbed a fork.

"Thanks, sis," she said, smiling as she ate. Although her sister had no faith in her cooking, she was very good at it. The pancakes tasted wonderful, and Peg mentioned that out loud.

"Thanks," Angela said, beaming. A minute or two of silence passed between them as Peg ate. Finally, Angela spoke up again. "So, any plans for today?" she asked.

"Well," the older sister replied. "I'm kind of hoping that I'll see my new friend today." Angela leaned over the table and looked expectantly at Peg.

"New friend? Do tell!" Peg laughed and proceeded to explain what had happened yesterday, leaving out the part where the Crodus had attacked.

"That's awesome!" Angela cried. "I want to meet this new friend of yours."

"Well, I hope I'll see her today…" Suddenly, she was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I'll get it," she said, standing up and going to the door. She opened it to find Erica standing there, smiling. "Hey! I was hoping to see you today!"

"Well, you're wish has come true, I guess." Erica laughed at this, and Peg joined her. Angela walked from behind her sister. "Oh, who's this?" Erica asked, looking questioningly at Peg.

"This is my sister, Angela," she said. The two girls shook hands politely, but the younger girl looked at her sister's friend oddly. Something just didn't seem right about her, somehow. Erica either didn't notice or pretended not to notice the look that Angela was giving her. She turned back to her friend.

"So, what do you want to do today?" she asked as she followed her friend out of the house and closed the door.

Angela stood on the other side of the door and blinked. That was abrupt… she thought. They didn't even say goodbye…

Sighing a bit sadly, she went into the living room and sat on the couch. Something was wrong with that girl, she knew. She had seemed weird somehow, and Angela had felt a strange malice while she had been around. She shuddered a bit at the thought and tried to forget it.

What could she do today? She felt extremely bored right now with Peg gone. Standing up, she went over to the phone and decided to call her boyfriend. Maybe he could think of something fun to do today.

"I don't know," Peg replied, shrugging her shoulders. They were walking down the street when all of a sudden, Dan, Beth, Sean, and Tiz turned the corner on to Peg's street. She saw them and ran over to them, motioning for Erica to follow. The girl did not run like her friend had. Instead, she walked slowly, her face turning bright pink. She came up eventually, though, and Peg introduced her to Dan and the others. She said nothing in response, but she smiled shyly at them.

"So, we were just going to the Overclocked Café to see what Will is up to," Dan said, smiling at Peg. "You two ladies want to come?"

Peg was just about to say yes, but she noticed that Erica was shaking her head, giving her a pleading look. Her friend was confused, but she realized that Erica was saying that she didn't want to go with her friends. She couldn't think why, but she decided to oblige her new friend.

"Eh, sounds interesting, but I think I'll pass on this one," she said. She felt kind of bad to be ditching her friends, but she didn't want Erica to feel uncomfortable.

Beth looked at her strangely. She had never turned down a chance to hang out with them before. "Um, okay," she said slowly. "It won't be the same without you, Peggy." The Blue Ranger cringed a little bit, guilt creeping up on her. Recovering herself, she smiled at them and walked off, Erica following right behind her. Dan, Tiz, and Sean looked at each other, confused. Beth was the only one who was watching Peg and her new friend as they walked away, so she was the only one who saw the smirk on Erica's face as she glanced back at them. Weird… Beth thought. She shook it off, though, and turned to her friends.

"Well, that was weird," Tiz said. "It's not like Peg to do something like that…"

"I know," Sean agreed. Dan sighed.

"I guess we'll just have to go without her."

"Maybe we could see if Angela wants to come with us," Beth suggested. "After all, she's only a few houses away from us." The others nodded in agreement and they made their way to Peg's house.

Angela sighed. Her boyfriend wasn't home, according to his mother, which left her with nothing to do all day. Why had Peg just left her like that? she wondered. It wasn't like her at all…

Knock knock.

Angela's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She got up and opened it, seeing to her surprise and delight that Beth, Dan, Tiz, and Sean stood there, smiling at her.

"Hey, guys," she said, beaming. "What's up?"

"We were going to head over to the Overclocked Café," Dan said. "And we were wondering if you'd like to tag along." Angela grinned.

"Do you even have to ask?" She laughed and walked outside, closing and locking the door behind her. The five of them headed off to the café, talking and laughing.

Del set the empty tray on the counter and sighed. It was a pretty slow day at the café for some reason. He guessed that probably people had gone on vacation. It was Spring Break, after all. As much as he appreciated not having a million people to serve all at once, he had to admit that without the crowds, he was pretty bored.

Then, to his joy, Del heard the door to the café open. Turning towards the sound, he saw five teens enter. It was Dan, Tiz, Sean, Beth, and some girl he didn't recognize. It surprised him a little that Peg wasn't with them. Those five seemed joined at the hip ever since…

He smiled at them and walked up to them as they sat at a table. After taking their orders and exchanging a bit of small talk, he went back to the counter and told Will what drinks to make for them. Del knew that he would never be able to look at those guys the same way anymore. Now, he knew their secret. He had seen Peg put out that fire with her powers. After that, Will had realized that he might as well tell Del the entire story. Now, the young waiter at the Overclocked Café knew all about the Element Storm Power Rangers; their powers, their enemies, and their identities. He had been shocked, of course. But he had not hesitated to swear to secrecy on this. After all, he thought, who would believe him anyway?

Once Erica and Peg were out of earshot of Dan and the others, Peg looked at her new friend curiously.

"What was that about?" she asked. Erica bit her lower lip.

"Well, I get shy around people I don't know," she said. "And, anyways, your friends are weird."

Peg had to laugh at that. "Of course they are," she said. "So am I. That's why we get along so well." Erica stopped and looked her companion in the eyes.

"No, Peg," she said. "You're not like them. You're different. You don't need friends like that."

"What!" Peggy cried. "What are you talking about?" Erica lay a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Trust me," she said. "You're not like them. And you're not like your sister either. You shouldn't spend so much time around them." Peg just stared at her in disbelief. Suddenly, though, as Erica looked at her, she began to calm down, feeling as if, almost, somehow, she must be right. Yes, she thought. She must be right.

"You must be right," she said, with a sigh. It seemed almost a relief to say the words. Erica grinned at her.

"I am," she said simply, starting to walk again. Peg followed her, a blank look on her face for a second. She shook it off quickly though and smiled at her friend. Of course Erica was right, she thought. Why would Erica lie to her?

In the alley near where the two girls had been talking, a figure emerged suddenly from the shadows, laughing to himself. Perfect, Stephen thought. Erica is using her powers wisely. Soon, he knew, the Blue Ranger would drift farther and farther from her friends, thinking that they weren't really her friends, thinking that she should spend more time with her new friend, thinking that those thoughts were her own. Stephen had always admired and slightly envied Erica's ability to implant thoughts into other people's head. That was what she was doing now, he knew. He could tell by the blank stare on the Blue Ranger's face. It was the look the victims always got when Erica put thoughts into their heads.

Laughing again, Stephen crept back into the darkness of the alley, disappearing completely. Once he was fully invisible, he walked after the two girls as they went down the street, watching their every move.

"Something is wrong." Everyone at the table in the Overclocked Café looked at Dan as he said this. "Something is wrong with Peg. It's been five days now, and she hasn't even spoken to us."

"I know," Tiz said, a worried expression on his face. "And as Angela says she's been acting strange at home as well." The girl who's name was just mentioned nodded sadly.

"She has hardly spoken to me," she said. "This must have something to do with that new friend of hers, Erica or whatever."

"Of course it does," Sean said. "She was acting perfectly normal until she met that girl."

"Yep," Beth agreed. "Now, the question is, how to we get her back to normal?"

"We have to convince her that this girl is bad news," Dan said, sighing. "It won't be easy, though." The others nodded in agreement.

"So, who's going to talk to her?" Tiz asked. Silence filled the table as the question was asked. At last, Angela sighed.

"I'll do it," she said. "She is my sister, after all." With that, she stood up and left the café, heading home, walking slowly, knowing that this was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done.

It didn't take Angela long to get home. She trudged up the stairs and went inside. Luckily, Peg was home. She was in their room, lying on her bed, listening to music. Angela approached her sister, motioning for her to pause her music. Peg complied and sat up in her bed, looking at Angela.

"What is it?" she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Her sister sat down on the bed next to her.

"You're not going to want to hear this," she said. "But, I don't trust your new friend." There, she thought. I just came right out and said it.

Peg stared at her. "What!" she cried. "What are you talking about?"

Angela cringed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"I don't know how to explain it," she said slowly. "But, something just seems wrong about her. And, you've been spending all your time with her lately…" Peg interrupted her.

"Oh, is that what this is about?" she asked, a look of pure annoyance on her face now. "Just because I'm hanging out with her a lot doesn't mean there's something wrong with her."

"Yeah, but it's been five days since you've seen Dan, Beth, Tiz, and Sean. It's not like you to just ignore them like that. But, that's not even the main thing I'm worried about. I met this girl, and something just felt off about her. I got a strange feeling when she was around. It almost felt, well, evil."

Peg laughed at that, a strange, cruel quality in her laugh that Angela had never heard before from her sister. "Evil!" she cried. "That's ridiculous. You're just jealous because I haven't been hanging out with you. Well, guess what, Angela, I have other friends then those losers I usually hang out with." Her sister was taken aback. Losers? Had she just called her friends losers? She was almost speechless. This wasn't like her sister at all.

"They aren't losers…" was all Angela could bring herself to say.

Peg shook her head at her. "I never thought you'd be the one to be jealous of my friend." With that, she stormed out of the room and out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Angela continued to sit on the bed, staring at the ground. Closing her eyes, she buried her head in her hands.

Peg ran down the street, fuming with anger. How could her sister say something like that? How could she think that Erica was evil? It was crazy. Absolutely crazy. There was nothing wrong with…

As if just thinking of her had caused her to appear, Peg saw Erica walking down the street towards her. She stopped running and waited for her friend to come up to her. It didn't take her very long.

"Hey, Peggy," she said in her usual bright way. Peg forced a smile. She was just about to say something when she heard a voice behind her. Turning to look, she saw that it was Will.

"Peg, get away from her," he said in a serious voice. There was a hint of worry and anger in his tone as well.

"Why?" the Blue Ranger asked, confused. She was still looking at him, so she didn't see the pale, worried expression on her friend's face.

"Because," Will said. "That's Erica, the second oldest member of the Chaos Three, wielder of the Dark Water."

"What!" Peg turned to Erica and saw that her face had changed. She smirked at her and gave an evil laugh as she backed away from her.

"It's true," she said. "I came here to sucker one of the Rangers into being my friend so that I could find out their secrets. You fell for my trick so easily…" She laughed again. Peg looked away, trying to fight back tears. How could she have let herself get tricked like this? More importantly, how could Erica have done this to her? Anger replaced the sadness in her heart, and she turned and glared at Erica.

"You'll pay for tricking me!"

She tried to punch Erica but the girl dodged it and kicked Peg in the stomach. Will watched what was happening from his position across the street. He knew that there was going to be a battle between these two, and he had to call the other Rangers for back up. Lifting his left wrist to his lips, he used a device that looked exactly like one of the Rangers' morphers to contact the others.

Peg keeled over as she was kicked, but she recovered quickly and kicked at Erica. The girl blocked it and tried to punch Peg, but she blocked it was well. Peg tried once more to kick Erica, and she succeeded in getting her right in the gut, causing her to fall over backwards. The Chaos Three member got up again quickly, though.

"Why don't we settle this right now?" she said. "We'll see which is stronger; Water or Dark Water." With that, she started backing away down the street. Peg nodded and backed away as well. Once they were far enough apart, they put their hands forward in preparation.

"On three," Peg said. "1…2…3!" As soon as she said the last number, both girls let out a stream of water at the other. Erica's water was a dark, deep blue, and it had an almost black glow around it. Peg's water was a lighter blue, and it glowed white along the edges. The two streams of water hit each other in the middle. Each girl focused all of their energy on the water, trying to make their water hit the other person. At first, Peg's water forced it's way closer and closer to Erica, and it seemed that she would definitely win. Suddenly, though, as the other four Rangers ran up, Erica's water started to push more against Peg's. Dan, Beth, Tiz, Sean, and Will watched in horror as it neared Peg, almost touching her.

"Come on, Peggy!" Dan cried. "You can do it! Focus!" The Blue Ranger glanced over at her friends for a split second. They were all smiling at her, and she saw looks of confidence in their faces. Turning back at Erica, Peg doubled her focus on what she was doing. With a last burst of energy, Peg let out a cry and forced her stream of water as hard as she could. It went straight through Erica's water and hit her with full force, sending her flying backwards. She screamed as she hit the pavement, then she passed out.

The Rangers cheered and ran over to Peg.

"I knew you could do it!" Dan cried, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"That was awesome, Peggy," Beth said, beaming at her. Peg smiled at them, then looked back at the unconscious form of Erica. Will had a solemn expression on his face as he walked slowly up to the Chaos Three member. Suddenly, he was pushed back by something unseen and he fell on his side. The figure of Stephen appeared, glaring at Will.

"You may have won for today," he said, leaning down and picking Erica up. "But the Chaos Three will triumph in the end. You can count on that!" With that, he teleported away in a flash of red light.

Later that day, the Rangers sat around a table in the Overclocked Café. Angela was with them, and all eyes were fastened on Peg.

She closed her eyes and put her head down sadly. "Guys, I'm sorry for all of this," she said. "I let that girl trick me, and I completely ignored you guys. Especially you, Angela." She looked at her sister. "I said some horrible things to you. I'm sorry…" She hung her head again. Angela reached across the table and grabbed her sister's hand.

"She tricked you, Peg," she said. "There was nothing you could do about it." She smiled at her and Peg smiled back. "Well," Angela continued. "It's a good thing that the Power Rangers came when they did, or you would have been in big trouble." Everyone at the table laughed.

Stephen appeared in the tower carrying the motionless form of Erica. He went into her room and lay her down on her bed, followed by Rufus, who had been watching in the telescope.

"Is she going to be okay, Stephen?" the younger boy asked, sounding as worried as he looked.

"She'll be fine." The oldest member of the Chaos Three walked out into the main room, leaving Rufus to watch over Erica. Rufus sat on the edge of the bed and lay his hand on Erica's.

"I sure hope so…" he said softly.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!

lil Cwick: Thanks! I'm glad I could make your day!

juzblue: Thanks. I'm glad I could teach you something new (about the sai) lol

TehTiz: It's great to get a review from one of our characters! lol Anyways, thanks so much for your review, Tiz! It means a lot to me. I was worried that I wasn't getting the personalities of the characters very well. And I know I suck at describing battles, which is weird because I'm so good at role playing. lol I hope I did a bit better in this chapter, and I'll try to do better with that in the future. Thanks again, Tiz!


	5. Thunder Crack Whenever Worlds Collide

A/N: Sorry this took so long to update, guys! I had total writers block! The next ep won't take so long to write, though, because I've already planned it all out. Yes, this episode is named after a line in the song Big Bang from Super Power.

Without further ado, I give you, Tiz's episode. Enjoy!

Episode 5: Thunder Crack Whenever Worlds Collide

Rufus sat beside Erica as she lay on her bed in her room, still asleep. She had not woken up since her battle with Peg yesterday, and it worried Rufus to no end. Why hadn't she woken up? Was she okay? Should Rufus do something? Could he do something? He didn't know. All he knew was that he was worried and he didn't know what to do.

He told Stephen about it. Of course, though, the oldest member of the Chaos Three had shown precious little concern for his companion. What did he care for Erica? He didn't care for anyone, not Rufus, not Erica, no one.

But, Rufus did care for Erica. Something horrible had happened to her, and now she couldn't wake up. She was hurt, and there was nothing Rufus could do to help her. He had never felt so helpless in his life as he did at that moment as he looked at her unconscious form. Even when she was asleep, she was so beautiful…

He gently pushed a stray hair out of her eyes and behind her ear, smiling sadly at her. Of course, if she had been awake, she would never have allowed him to do something like that. But, she wasn't awake. She was unconscious, and Rufus knew exactly who to blame; the Blue Ranger. She had done this to Erica, and she would pay. Somehow, Rufus would make her pay.

Michael Tisdale sat on the couch staring intently at the TV in front of him. His fingers flew across the controller in his hand, causing the figures on the screen to do various things. He was playing a RPG, his favorite genre of video games, and he was doing well, as always. He had beaten this game so many times now that he had lost count, but he never tired of beating it again.

Except for now. Boredom was creeping over him. Sighing, he turned off the game and stood up, stretching and yawning. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was 2:37pm. He was supposed to meet his friends at the Overclocked Café at 3:00, so he decided to head over there now.

It didn't take him long to get there, since he lived pretty close to the café. He sat at their usual table and waited for the others to get there. He saw that Beth was working that day, and she came over to the table as he sat down.

"Hey, Tiz," she said, smiling brightly.

"Yo," was his short response. Most people might have thought he was being curt, but Beth knew that that was how Tiz always said "hi". "Some crowd today." There was obvious sarcasm in his voice as he looked around the nearly empty café.

Beth chuckled. "Yeah."

"It must be a bit of a relief."

The Green Ranger shrugged. "In a way, it is, because it means less work for me, but in a way, it kind of makes me sad, because it means that Del won't be around. It's nice having him to talk to, especially since he knows our secret."

Tiz nodded understandingly. It was nice to have one more person that they didn't have to keep their powers a secret from. Although Tiz didn't talk to Del much, he knew that Beth did, since the two of them both worked at the café.

Beth was just about to say something else when suddenly three teens came in and sat down. She smiled at Tiz. "I take my leave," she said, laughing. The Yellow Ranger laughed as well as she walked off, turning around and waving. "Later, Tiz," she said, going to the table where the newcomers had sat and taking their order. Tiz waved to her, then he folded his arms across his chest with his elbows on the table, leaning forward on his arms (A/N: I hope you can picture that!). He sighed, feeling bored, hoping his friends would come soon.

As if they had heard his wish and were making it come true, Tiz suddenly heard the voices of Peg and Dan behind him. He smiled as he turned to look at them. They were walking right next to each other, talking and laughing. The Yellow Ranger sighed softly. He could tell that Dan liked Peg, but he knew that he was too scared to admit it. Tiz couldn't see why, though. It was obvious that Peg felt the same way about him. He shook his head. Love was so stupid sometimes.

The two came over and sat across from him. Dan reached across the table and gave Tiz a half high five, half handshake (A/N: I hope you can picture that as well! Guys do it all the time. I can't think of any other way to describe it, though).

"Hey, Tiz," he said. Peg echoed the greeting.

"Yo," the Yellow Ranger responded. Beth came over then and smiled at them.

"Hey, guys," she said. "Can I get you anything? Or do you want to wait for Sean?" Dan thought for a moment.

"We might as well order now," he said. "Sean always seems to be late lately."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Beth said.

"You would," Tiz muttered under his breath, smiling to himself. No one else heard him, though, which was just as well for him. Beth took their orders and went over to the counter to give them to Will.

Stephen watched through the telescope, but nothing was happening right now. He yawned. This was boring. He had more important things to do than watching a bunch of teenagers sit around talking, didn't he? Of course he did! Walking away from the telescope, he glanced over at Rufus, who was sitting and reading his book. He always seemed to be reading lately, although he refused to let the others know exactly what he was reading. Oh, well, Stephen thought. Who cared what he was reading?

"Hey, go watch the telescope for a while," he said in his usual gruff voice. Rufus stood up immediately, shoving his book in his back pocket and running over to the telescope eagerly. Little did Stephen know that this is what he had been waiting for all day. Peering through the lens of the telescope, he saw the three teens sitting at the table in the Overclocked Café. They were talking and laughing, as he could see by looking. If only he could hear what they were saying as well!

His gaze through the telescope shifted to the Blue Ranger. Anger filled his heart as he glared at her. He had to find a way to get back at her for what she did to Erica. He mentally chastised himself for not listening more closely when Erica was telling Stephen everything she had learned about Peg. At the time, he had been too absorbed in his book to pay attention to what she said. Now, he needed to find out something, anything about the Blue Ranger that he could use against her to get his revenge for what she did to Erica.

He didn't want to ask Stephen what Erica had told him about Peg for two reasons. One, the oldest member of the Chaos Three would yell at Rufus for not paying attention, and two, he would try to take over and do this himself. Rufus couldn't let that happen. He was the one who wanted revenge on the Blue Ranger, and he had to be the one to get it, without Stephen's help.

But how could he find out what he wanted to know about Peg? He couldn't hear what they were saying, and it's not like he could read their minds or anything…

Then, it hit him. His eyes turned to the Yellow Ranger. He had the power of Thunder, and Rufus had Dark Thunder, meaning that there was a connection between the two. Although there was a big difference between Thunder and Dark Thunder, there was still a chance that the connection was enough that Rufus would be able to read Tiz's thoughts. All of the members of the Chaos Three could read the minds of those with the same Element as theirs. They had never tested it against those with the opposite Element, though, and Rufus wasn't sure if it would work. But, he knew it was his only chance, and he had to try.

Closing his eyes, he focused all his thought and energy on the Yellow Ranger, trying to get into his head. Random thoughts floated through Rufus' mind; thoughts of Erica, thoughts of Stephen, thoughts of his home on Trienith, thoughts of Fire Emblem…

Wait. That last though hadn't been his. It must have been Tiz's thought. It worked! Rufus was reading the Yellow Ranger's mind! Now, he had to see if he could find out what he was looking for. Concentrating as hard as he could, he delved deeper into Tiz's mind, trying to find out anything the boy knew about the Blue Ranger.

At last, he found something that made him smile. Peg had a crush on the Red Ranger, it seemed. Perfect, Rufus thought. Now, he knew what he had to do to get his revenge on her; he had to kidnap Dan.

Dan, Tiz, and Peg sat around the table, talking and laughing, still waiting for Sean to come.

The door opened to the café, and the three friends looked to see who was coming in, half expecting it to be Sean. Instead, they saw Angela and her boyfriend walk in. The two walked over to the table and smiled at them. Angela had her arms wrapped around one of his as they walked side by side.

"Hey, guys!" she said in her usual cheerful voice as they got to the table.

"Hey, Angela," Peg said. "Hey, Jorge," she added, smiling at her sister's boyfriend.

"Hey, guys," Jorge said, smiling and waving slightly. Dan and Tiz said their greetings, and then Angela and Jorge went and sat at the table next to them. Then, Sean came running in, looking tired and a bit breathless. He sat at the table next to Tiz as Beth brought their drinks over.

"Hi, guys," he said, panting a little. "Sorry I'm late. I had something to take care of."

"It's okay," Tiz said with a chuckle. "You're late so much lately we've gotten used to it." He grinned at the White Ranger. Sean glared at him in mock anger and punched him softly in the arm, laughing. The others laughed with them, including Beth and Tiz.

"Hey, Sean," the Green Ranger said, smiling at him. She handed the others their drinks. "Can I get you anything?"

"Hi, Beth," he said, returning the smile. "I'm dying of thirst," he added with a laugh before giving her his order. She wrote it on her notepad and walked away to the counter.

"So," Dan said, giving Sean a serious look. "What's this big, important thing you had to take care of?"

His friend paused for a second, looking down at the table. Then, he looked up again and smiled at Dan. "It's nothing," he said as Beth came back and set his drink in front of him. "Thanks, Bethy," he said, looking up at her. She nodded, then walked away to another table to take their order. She was the only one who noticed that the smile on Sean's face looked almost forced, and she could tell that something was bothering him.

That evening, Dan walked home by himself, making his way slowly. He sighed. Today was Friday, and school started again on Monday. Spring Break was so close to being over, and it was a bit depressing. It certainly hadn't been the most relaxing break he'd ever had, but it was probably the most interesting. So much had happened this week, and he felt like an entirely different person than he had been before break.

As he turned down the corner of his block, he stopped suddenly, feeling that something was wrong. Then, in a flash of dark purple, a large group of Crodus appeared in a circle around him. He got in a fighting stance.

"What do you guys want?" he asked, smiling grimly, knowing that they couldn't understand him or respond to him. The Crodus started closing in around him as Dan prepared to fight. Just as he was about to kick one away, he felt a shock of pain jolting through his body. He cried out in agony as he collapsed to the ground, falling on his back. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was a boy, who looked about 20 years old, leaning over him, looking at him evilly. Sparks of electricity seemed to come from his fingers. Then, Dan blacked out.

The next day, Peg walked into the café, her face pale and expressionless, clutching a folded piece of paper. Beth, Sean, and Tiz were seated at their usual table, but the Blue Ranger didn't join them. She stared blankly forward as she walked straight up to the counter where Will was making drinks. She unfolded the paper she was holding and set in on the counter as Will turned to look at her.

"What's wrong, Peg?" he asked, a concerned look on his face. She simply pointed to the paper and said nothing as the other three Rangers walked up to them.

"What's going on?" Sean asked as Will picked up the paper and read it silently. He gasped slightly and his face paled over. Tiz took the paper from him and read it to himself. When he finished, he passed it to Sean and looked at Will oddly.

"What do we do now?" he asked as Sean read the paper. Beth leaned over his shoulder and read it as well.

"Oh, my goodness!" Beth exclaimed before Will had a chance to respond. "Dan's been kidnapped? How is that possible?" She was getting worked up and talking a bit too loud. A few people in the café turned to look at them, but they soon looked away again. Sean laid a hand gently on Beth's back.

"Hey, it's okay," he said in a gentle, quiet voice. "We'll find him." She calmed down a little at his touch, but the look of worry didn't leave her face. All four of them turned to Will, looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer Tiz's question.

"I don't know what to do," he said. "Rufus is extremely powerful. He has the power of Dark Thunder. While Stephen is much stronger than him, he still has amazing power, and he's incredibly dangerous."

"Then, what are we going to do?" Sean asked. "We have to save Dan somehow."

Will turned to Tiz and gave him a serious look. "I was talking to Dan a few days ago," he began. "I asked him if something ever happened to him who he would choose to lead the Rangers in his place. He chose you, Tiz. He told me that he trusted you to lead his team if he was gone."

Tiz just stared at him, almost in disbelief. Dan chose him to be the leader? Why him? Couldn't Sean or Peg do a better job than him? Apparently, Dan didn't think so. He trusted Tiz as more than just his best friend. He trusted him as a leader. The Yellow Ranger would have liked a moment to think that over and let it sink in, but Will started talking again almost immediately.

"With that said, it is now up to you to make a decision on what to do. I can give you information and advice, but you have do decide what action to take." He took the note from Sean and looked at it again. "We cannot do what the letter demands," he said firmly. "Peg cannot go alone to this place. It's too dangerous. If it had been Stephen, any of you could have fought him and had and almost equal chance, although Peg would have been the best choice, as Fire, or Dark Fire, is weaker against Water. If it had been Erica, it would be the same thing; any of you would have a chance against her, although Tiz's Thunder would have been best, as Water, or Dark Water, conducts electricity. But it's different with Dark Thunder. While Stephen's Dark Fire is more powerful, Dark Thunder has no direct weaknesses, but it is strong against Water. If you send Peg there as the letter says, she will almost certainly be defeated.

"The only one of your powers that has a chance to match Dark Thunder is Tiz's power of Thunder. It is said that two of the same or similar Elements are strong against each other. We saw that when Peg fought Erica. Since Thunder is almost directly connected with Dark Thunder, it should be strong against it. Of course, this has never been tested, and it is not known for sure, but my advice is that you take that chance and go, Tiz. It is only advice, though. You must make the final decision."

The Yellow Ranger stood there for a moment, looking down at the counter, saying nothing. This was a lot to take in, and it was a big decision to make. At last, he sighed and looked up.

"I'm going," he said in a firm, resolute tone. "And I'm going alone." The others just nodded silently. Beth gave Tiz a hug, and he hugged her back, forcing a smile.

"Good luck, Tizzy," she whispered as she pulled away. Sean shook his hand.

"Good luck, man." The Yellow Ranger nodded, and he turned and left the café, clutching the note in his hand.

Dan opened his eyes slowly. His hand went to his head as he tried to quell the dizziness he was feeling. Where in the world was he? Looking around, he saw that he was in a small room with three walls of brick and one of long, black metal bars. He was sitting on a cot hanging from the wall. It all seemed like a jail cell. Had he been arrested or something? He racked his brain to try to remember what had happened last night…

Oh, yeah, he was attacked by Crodus, and then zapped by some guy. That was the last thing he remembered. How long had he been out? He glanced down at his morpher and saw that it was 7:28am. He had been asleep all night, at least.

Sitting up on the cot, he tried to think of where he could be. Obviously, he wasn't in jail, just something that looked like a jail cell. But, where would there be something like that? Then, it hit him. He must be at the abandoned jailhouse that was right outside of town. It was a small, ancient place that had been there for decades. No one ever bothered to knock it down or anything because it wasn't in anyone's way. They just left it there, closing it up to prevent people from going inside. The police tape didn't stop anyone, though, and Dan had been here with his friends on a few occasions. It had been a long time since his last visit, though.

Now, the question was, how was he going to get out of here? The bars were real jail bars, and they were made of thick metal. Maybe he could shoot a fireball at them. If he could melt them with his fire, he could easily get out. He stood up and walked over to the bars, reaching out to touch them. He drew his hand back immediately, though. Something seemed off about them, and he now heard a strange, soft, electric crackle. Were the bars electrified somehow? He didn't want to take that chance, so he went back and sat on the cot, staying away from the bars.

Suddenly, he heard a laugh coming from somewhere ahead of him. The noise was soft at first, but it gradually got louder as a figure appeared out of the shadows. It wore a black cloak with a hood, and there were yellow streaks on the back of it. As it drew near, Dan could see the face in the light that hung above him in his cell. It was the boy he had seen yesterday before he blacked out! The boy who had kidnapped him. Standing up in anger, Dan glared at him.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The boy laughed again.

"Well, I see no harm in you knowing that," he said, his tone sounding evil, yet forced. "I am Rufus, the youngest of the Chaos Three, wielder of the power of Dark Thunder."

Dan just stared at him for a moment. This was the third member of the Chaos Three? Now, he had seen all of them face to face, and he hated each of them. Thinking quickly, he realized that this would be the perfect time to send a fireball at the bars and melt them, allowing him to escape. He started to create one in his hands, but before he had a chance to throw it, he felt a shock of electricity in his body like the one he had felt last night. Crying out in pain, he collapsed to the ground. Rufus walked up to the bars and put his hand on them, leaning forward to look at the now unconscious Dan. Grinning, he chuckled and walked away, disappearing into the shadows.

Peg, Beth, and Sean walked back to their table and sat down silently. No one could find anything to say. They were too worried about their friends for talking. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts when Angela and Jorge came in, talking and laughing. They came over to the table and sat next to Peg on her side.

"Hey, guys," Angela said brightly. The others muttered a greeting, then went back to silence. Angela looked confused. "Well, you guys are a lot of fun today," she said sarcastically after a pause.

"I noticed," Jorge said with a smile. "Is something wrong?" The three Rangers gave each other questioning looks. What were they going to do? They obviously couldn't tell Angela and Jorge what was wrong, but they had to say something. After a moment's thought, Sean opened his mouth to speak. But, before he had a chance to say anything, Jorge spoke again.

"Where are Dan and Tiz?" he asked. "You five are always together, aren't you? I'd say you're almost joined at the hip." He laughed at that, and his girlfriend joined him. The others forced laughs as well, trying to make it seem like nothing was wrong.

"They're, um, somewhere else," Sean said slowly. "I'm not entirely sure where, but hopefully they'll be here later."

"I sure hope so," Jorge responded, smiling. After a short, awkward silence, Angela spoke up.

"So, school starts again on Monday," she said with a groan. "I swear these breaks are never long enough."

Beth smiled. "I know," she said. "And this break was so boring, wasn't it?" She smiled playfully at Peg and Sean, who smiled back, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

Angela nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but at least it's better than being in school, right? And then there was that whole thing with the Power Rangers. That was pretty exciting."

"It sure was," Jorge agreed. "I mean, how cool is it to have a team of Power Rangers in our town?"

"It's pretty cool," Sean said, smiling, trying not to look suspicious. "I only wish we knew who they were."

"I know," Angela said. "Wouldn't it just be so cool if they were people we knew? Like from school or something?"

"Yeah," Beth agreed. "But, that will never happen."

"Well, you never know," Jorge said. "Maybe one day we'll find out who they are. That would be awesome!" The others nodded in agreement and continued talking, all except for Peg. She sat silently next to her sister, not paying any attention to what was going on around her. Only Angela noticed that something was wrong, but she decided not to mention it right now. She would be sure to find out what was bothering her later, though.

Tiz looked at the abandoned jailhouse and sighed. He remembered coming here with Dan when he was younger. The two of them used to love exploring the place, with its dark corners, empty, unlocked cells, and dangerous, crumbling walls. There was a sense of danger here, and it had always served as an interesting place to hang out.

Now, it was the place where Dan had been taken by Rufus. Why he had chosen here of all places to take the kidnapped Red Ranger was beyond Tiz, but he decided that it didn't really matter why. All that mattered was that Dan was here, and it was up to Tiz to save him.

Cautiously, he entered the abandoned building between the broken boards on the door, just as he had so many times before. The place was as dark and dirty as he remembered, and the thick dust was almost suffocating. The windows were boarded up, shutting out the sunlight and causing utter blackness. Tiz could hardly see, even when his eyes adjusted to the dark. He needed to get some light in there, but how? Then, he remembered his power. Shooting a bit of electricity between his index finger and thumb on his right hand, the Yellow Ranger was able to make enough light to see by. Now, he just had to find out where Dan was and get out of there, hopefully without being seen by Rufus.

Of course, Tiz knew that there was no chance of them getting out unnoticed. Rufus was sure to be watching. After all, he was holding Dan captive, and this was supposed to be a trap. He couldn't imagine why the letter had been addressed to Peg of all the Rangers, though. It made sense that Rufus would capture the Red Ranger, because he was their leader. But why did he want Peg to be the one to try and save him?

Then, Tiz realized why. It was Peg who had fought that Erica girl, and Rufus was probably looking for revenge or something. Too bad, he thought. He was going to get more than he bargained for, and Tiz wasn't going to let him get away with kidnapping his best friend.

Making his way through the lobby of the building, he finally got to the back where the cells were. Dan must be in one of these, right? He walked down the row of cells, looking in each one. It made it easier that there were lights in these cells, although how they were running after all this time Tiz didn't know. Probably Rufus' doing, he thought grimly. It didn't take him long to find Dan, as there were only 10 cells in the small jailhouse.

He grinned at his friend, who stood up from the cot immediately when he saw him.

"I always knew I'd have to bail you out of jail sooner or later," Tiz said, shaking his head at him.

Dan glared at him playfully. "Just get me out of here," he said in mock exasperation. Tiz reached over to grab the door of the cell. "Wait!" Dan exclaimed before he had touched it. "It's electrified."

Tiz raised his eyebrows at him and smiled. "So am I," he said simply, grabbing the door and opening it. He could feel small pulses of electricity flowing around the bars, but they didn't hurt him at all. "Come on, let's get out of here." Dan walked over to him and they turned to leave. But, before they had a chance, Tiz felt a strong electrical shock hit him in the back. It didn't hurt him as much as it had hurt Dan, but it hurt enough. Turning around, he saw, unsurprisingly, Rufus standing there, his hand outstretched, electricity still crackling at his fingertips.

"What are you doing here?" the Chaos Three member demanded. "It was supposed to be the Blue Ranger who came, not you."

"Sorry," Tiz said sarcastically. "There was a change of plans. But don't worry; I'm plenty good enough for you!" With that, he sent an electric wave at Rufus, who dodged it deftly. The Yellow Ranger turned back to Dan. "Stay here," he said. "This is between me and him, and Will said that my power is the only one that can defeat him." The Red Ranger nodded at him and stood back out of the way.

Tiz turned back to Rufus and smiled at him. "Let's go."

"Gladly," his opponent replied. He shot a beam of thunder at Tiz, who managed to dodge it. Rufus' electricity was a darker yellow, and there was a thin layer of blackness around it. Tiz's was much lighter, and it shone with a layer of white light. He ran up to Rufus and kicked him, sending a shock through his leg at him. Rufus flew back a bit, but soon retaliated with an electrified punch to Tiz's stomach. The Yellow Ranger keeled over in pain, but he got up quickly and punched his enemy in the face. Glaring at him, Rufus kicked Tiz's legs out from under him, causing him to fall on his back. From his place on the ground, Tiz sent a shock at his enemy's feet, causing him to fall as well. He jumped on top of him before he had a chance to move and put his hand on his back. Then, he sent a powerful electric current into him, focusing all his energy on it. Rufus screamed in pain.

Tiz stood up and went back over to where Dan was standing, staring at him in awe. He felt exhausted now, having used all his energy in that last shock. Rufus lay on the ground looking at them, obviously exhausted and hurt as well. His expression was not angry or vengeful, though. It was a look of respect as he faced Tiz, something neither of the Rangers had expected to see.

Before they could do anything else, a figure materialized in front of Rufus. It was Stephen, and he glared at the Rangers with anger and hatred. Looking down at his companion, he spoke to him.

"Get us out of here," he said. Rufus nodded painfully.

"Okay, Stephen," he replied. As soon as he said the name, the two disappeared in flashes of Red and Yellow respectively, leaving Dan and Tiz to stare at the spot where they had just been.

The two Chaos Three members appeared back in the main room of the tower. Rufus was still lying down, his body tingling with pain. Stephen reached down and helped him stand up, much to the surprise of the younger boy. As long as he had known him, Stephen had never done anything nice for him before. He stared at him in bewilderment as he began talking.

"Although your plan failed, Rufus," he said. "At least you had a plan. You took charge and action. You didn't just sit back and let things happen. You tried to take revenge, and for that, I commend you. You just might make a good villain someday. And, someday soon, you might be ready."

The boy stared at him, shocked. Had Stephen just complimented him? Was that even possible? He couldn't believe his ears. But, what did he mean by the last thing he said?

"R-ready for what?" Rufus stammered. He couldn't think of anything else to say right now.

"You'll see when the time is right." With that, Stephen grinned at him, then walked off to his room.

Rufus still couldn't get over the compliment he had received from his superior. It was totally unexpected, especially after a failure like the one he had experienced today. Oh, well, he thought. A compliment is a compliment, and it still meant a lot to him.

He went into Erica's room and sat gently at the foot of her bed, watching her as she slept. Why wouldn't she wake up? He laid his hand on hers and looked down sadly.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Erica," he whispered, letting a tear fall down his cheek.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	6. Forgotten Earth

A/N: See? I told you this episode would be out sooner! I already had it all planned out, so it didn't take nearly as long to write. Anyways, this is Beth's episode.

Without further ado, I give you, Power Rangers Element Storm Episode 6. Enjoy!

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Episode 6: Forgotten Earth

"Rebecca James awoke to the sound of her alarm blaring next to her. The noise pierced her ears like needles. On the clock there was a switch to turn the alarm off an on. Becca moved her hand slightly, looking at the button, and the switched turned off, shutting up the annoying beeping sound.

She looked at the clock groggily. It read 6:20am. Ugh. She hated this hour. It was way too early to be awake, but she needed plenty of time to get ready for school in the morning. Standing up, she grabbed her glasses from the nightstand and put them on. To her surprise, everything looked smudged and blurry when she put her glasses on. She quickly took then off again and examined them closely. Of course, the problem was that they were dirty. Sighing, Becca wiped them off on her shirt and put them on again.

Much better, she thought, smiling a little as she made her way to the bathroom. She undressed quickly and stepped into the shower, turning on the water. At first, it was frigid cold, but soon the hot water kicked in, and the temperature rose to a comfortable level. Becca stood there for a while, letting the warmth of the water help wake her up fully.

After she was done with her shower, she got out and dried off quickly. After blow drying her long, blonde hair, she brushed it out and put on her hat. It was white with two stripes going around it, and it had a button in the middle of it. She made sure to have the button positioned off to one side, as she always did.

Becca made her way into the kitchen and sat at the table. Turning towards the cupboard, she made a motion with her hand and a bowl came floating out, sitting at last in front of her. Next, she looked at the pantry and caused a box of Life cereal to come to her. It landed right in her hand, and she opened it and poured it into her bowl. Closing the box, she sent it back to the pantry and closed the door.

She ate her cereal silently, staring at the table, lost in thought. She was day dreaming, thinking out the fan fiction she was working on in her mind. It was something she liked to do when she had nothing else to do. After finishing her cereal, she sent the bowl to the dishwasher and stood up, walking towards the door. Her backpack was there, and she used her telekinesis to draw it up on her shoulders. She glanced back once more at her empty house as she left, locking the door behind her with her mind.

Becca looked around her cautiously. There was no one around, luckily. She was glad that there were few teenagers in her neighborhood. That meant that there weren't many people awake at this hour in the morning. Checking her watch, she saw that it was now 7:20. Smiling, she lifted herself gently into the air, floating down the street to school. She couldn't lift herself very high off the ground, but flying was flying, she thought.

She continued to fly as fast as she could, which wasn't very fast, until she was a few blocks from the school. Now, there were more people around, and she didn't want them to see what she was doing. Dropping to the ground, she walked the rest of the way in silence until she got to the school. The halls were already crowded with students, talking, laughing, hanging out with their friends before class. Becca smiled. She was glad that some people around here could have friends.

Soon, she arrived at her first class. Sitting at her desk, which was right in the middle of the front row, she got out her notebook, her textbook, and her pencils. She smiled at Ms. Fleet as their eyes met, but her teacher only looked away and back at what she was doing. Becca sighed. Oh, well, she thought. I tried to be civil. Looking around the classroom, she saw that there weren't many students here yet. Sighing, she couldn't help wishing that today was Friday. That way, she'd be that much closer to the weekend."

Bethany Blackmon finished typing her post for the role play and pressed the Submit Reply button. This was her first post in this particular RP, and she was rather proud of it. This role play had the potential to be really great, and she hoped it would end up that way.

Glancing at the clock in the lower right-hand corner of her screen, Beth noticed that it was 11:12pm. Sighing, she knew that she would have to get to bed soon. After all, it was Sunday night, and school started again tomorrow. Spring Break was over already, and, as always, it had gone by extremely fast. Of course, this break had been very eventful, and she felt so different than she had before break started. She was a Power Ranger now; a hero. She had been a hero in many role plays before, but this was obviously different. Now, instead of just writing about it, she was living it.

She looked at the clock again and saw that five minutes had gone by. Deciding that she'd better get to sleep now, she shut down her computer and climbed into bed, dreading the fact that she had to go to school tomorrow.

Rufus sat in Erica's room on the foot of her bed, still keeping vigil over his unconscious companion. Why hadn't she woken up yet? What if somehow she never woke up? Rufus knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it if that happened. She had to wake up sometime, right? Of course, he thought. She will wake up. And he was determined to be there when she did.

He stared into her face sadly. She was so beautiful in his eyes, even when she was sleeping. Her chest rose and fell methodically as she breathed in and out softly. He laid a hand on hers gently, not looking away from her. He sighed.

"Please wake up, Erica," he whispered. Then, almost as if she heard him and was complying with his wish, she began to move slightly, and Rufus could feel the motion of her hand under his. At last, her eyelids began to slowly open, revealing her light blue eyes. She looked immediately at Rufus, who was now kneeling next to her bed, trying to fight back tears of joy.

"Erica," he said gently, hardly knowing what else to say. A confused look came over his friend as she watched him.

"Rufus," she said in a quiet, sleepy voice, sounding almost like a child that had just awoken from her nap. "What happened to me?" Before he could respond, a look of remembrance flashed over her face, soon replaced by one of anger. "The Blue Ranger," she said simply, her voice thick with annoyance. Rufus looked away sadly, feeling guilty that, unknown to Erica, he had failed to get revenge for her. Although she didn't know what, Erica knew that something was wrong, and her face and voice softened. "How long was I asleep?" she asked.

Rufus looked at her again and smiled. "A few days," he told her. "We were so worried about you." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Well, at least I was. Stephen didn't really care. He never does." With that, he chuckled and Erica laughed with him before giving him a serious look again.

"You were really worried about me?" she asked, sounding confused and surprised at this knowledge. Rufus blushed, and opened his mouth to respond. But, before he had a chance to say anything, Stephen walked in, his arms folded across his chest.

"Good, you're awake," he said, looking at Erica, his voice sounding hard as usual. "Come with me." He motioned for both of them to follow him. After glancing at each other one last time, almost shyly for some reason, the two younger members of the Chaos Three got up and left the room.

Beth sighed with relief as the bell rang, signifying that it was lunch time. Fourth period was now over, and she would finally get to spend some time with her friends again. Putting her binder away in her backpack, she put it on her shoulders and walked out of the classroom to the quad area. Most students ate lunch in the cafeteria, but Beth and her friends preferred to eat outside, where it was much quieter and less crowded. She went to the place they always met, and, as usual, she was the first one there. The others bought lunch from the school, but Beth always brought hers from home. It was cheaper, easier, and often tastier, since the school sold some strange food at times.

She pulled a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water out of her backpack and set it on the table in front of her. There were only a few tables outside in the quad, and Beth made sure to save one for her group every day. Normally, that wasn't a challenge, because most students who ate outside bought their lunch, leaving Beth plenty of time to claim a table.

So far, her classes had gone well that day. In English, they were reading "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, a book that they were half done with. Beth had finished it long ago, so she didn't need to pay much attention while the teacher had the students take turns reading aloud. It was an easy enough book, and she had no problems understanding it when she read it by herself, as usually seemed to happen with her.

Math had been boring, as always. They were working on matrices, and Beth had no problems with those. Adding, subtracting, and multiplying them posed little challenge to her. Not that math was always easy, but this section was.

Then, she had gone to chemistry, the worst class of the day, in her opinion. It was harder than any other science class she had ever taken, and it was the class she had the most problems in. Still, she had managed to squeak by with a C so far, and hopefully she could keep it that way.

She had just now gotten out of anatomy. While she enjoyed learning about bones, muscles, organs, and bodily functions, it wasn't exactly the class you wanted right before lunch, especially since they had been dissecting a sheep heart today. It was a rather interesting project in Beth's opinion, but it had the potential to ruin one's appetite if one isn't careful.

Finally, Beth heard the familiar voices of Dan, Sean, Tiz, and Peg walking up to the table. Turning to them, she gave a look of mock annoyance.

"Took you guys long enough," she said, laughing.

"Sorry," Dan said with a chuckle as he sat across from her. "The lines were especially long today." Peg nodded as she sat next to him. Tiz sat on the other side of him, and Sean sat next to Beth, which made her blush slightly for some reason.

"Hey, Sean," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey, Bethy," he replied, grinning.

Tiz looked happy. "Even though the lines were long, it was worth it," he said, holding his lunch up almost triumphantly. "Bread pizza is always worth the wait." With that, he took a bite from the end of his pizza and smiling with satisfaction. The others laughed at him.

"So, how's everyone's day going so far?" Peg asked. "Mine is okay for the first day after break, I guess." The others simply murmured in agreement. Peg looked at them and sighed. "Well, don't go into too much detail, guys," she said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Can't talk," Dan said, taking a bite of his pizza. "Must eat." Peg grinned at him, a mischievous look on her face. Pointing her index finger at him, she shot a small stream of water in his face.

"Hey!" he cried, spluttering a little and wiping his face with a napkin. He held his hand out palm upwards next to her and made a small fireball in it. "You don't want to mess with me, Peggy." He laughed as she backed away from the flame.

"Oh, yeah?" Tiz asked. "Watch this!" He shot a small electric bolt at Sean, not hurting him but causing his hair to stand up on end from the static electricity.

"Hey, what did I do?" Sean asked, trying to smooth his hair back to normal. The Yellow Ranger shrugged.

"Nothing," he said. "You were just there."

The White Ranger glared at him. "Two can play at the 'messing hair up' game." Putting his hand out towards Tiz, he caused a rather swift gust of wind to fly at him, throwing his hair out of place. When the wind stopped, Tiz's hair didn't look much different from Sean's. The others at the table laughed at him, and after a moment, he laughed too. They were glad that no one was around to see their previous antics, or their secret would have been blown. Even though there had been no chance of anyone seeing them, they knew that Will would have been mad at them for using their powers so lightly.

Beth sighed and looked kind of disappointed, knowing that she couldn't do anything like what they had just done. She couldn't use her powers in small quantities like that. All it would do was cause an earthquake, which would cause panic all over the school. Although Beth had never tried to use her power outside of a battle, she figured that she probably couldn't without doing a major attack. Oh, well, she thought, a bit sadly.

Lunchtime was over way too soon, in the student's opinion. Half an hour never seemed like quite enough time to eat and hang out before fifth period. But, it was all they had, and they had to do what they could with the time that was given to them. After the bell rang, the five Rangers stood up and threw their trash away and went their separate ways, agreeing to meet at the Overclocked Café after school.

Beth sighed as she made her way to her Spanish classroom. Only two more periods until school would be over, and they would be free. Even though she liked Spanish, she always felt tired and unwilling to work after lunch. Still, she had no choice but to work, and work she did for the entire hour that the class lasted. Beth liked her teacher, but she gave them too much to do each period, she thought. She wasn't the only one who thought that way, and the other students were much more vocal about it, complaining constantly about the amount of work they were assigned. Not that it did any good. All it accomplished was making the teacher angry and, at times, vengeful. Mrs. Gonzales was always able to come up with more work for them if they complained about what they already had.

Finally, it was sixth period; the last class of the day. Beth greeted her economics teacher, Mr. Thompson, as she entered. Although econ was normally a boring class, Mr. Thompson found ways to make it interesting, and his class loved him for it. He was a well known and well liked teacher at the school amongst both students and his co-workers. Even though Beth was shy, especially around teachers, she had no problems talking to him, and they had had some interesting conversations in the past. When Beth got to class, she could only wonder what he had in store for them that day.

Stephen looked at his two companions, a firm, serious expression on his face. He had just finished telling Erica everything that had happened while she had been unconscious. While he told her about what Rufus had done to try and get revenge on Peg, she looked at the younger boy with surprise, wondering why he had gone to such lengths to do that for her. Maybe…

But, her thoughts were interrupted by Stephen's gruff voice, telling them what they were going to do next. He said that they were going to make a monster to send down, but it had to be especially powerful. He wanted to force the Rangers to use their Elements rather than morphing. If they could do that, they could cause the Rangers to tire more easily after using large attacks, and, if the monster wasn't defeated after that, it would be a breeze to destroy them from there. It wasn't a particularly great, amazing plan, but it was better than nothing, and Stephen assured them that he had bigger plans later on.

"Erica," he said, looking at her seriously. "Go in your room and try to come up with the most powerful monster you can muster. Don't come out until you've got something really good, no matter how long it takes."

Erica groaned slightly at that. She was still exhausted from being unconscious for so long, and she really didn't feel like thinking right now. But, Stephen was the boss, and she knew she had to do what he said. Sighing, she went into her room and lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, hoping she could come up with something good enough.

After school that day, Beth went to the parking lot to meet her friends. They agreed to meet there and then head out to the Overclocked Café. When she got to the place they always met, everyone was there except for Sean. Beth sighed in mock annoyance as she walked up.

"Sean's late again?" she asked with a grin.

"No," Dan said. "He said that he had to go home and do something and that he would meet us there. He didn't say what he was doing, though."

Beth laughed. "Oooh, how mysterious." The others laughed as well, then they piled into their cars and headed for the café. When they got there, they didn't have to wait long for Sean. He was there within ten minutes of their arrival. As soon as they had all sat at their usual table, Del came over to take their orders.

"Hey, Del," Beth said, smiling at him. He waved and smiled back.

"How was everyone's first day back at school?" he asked after writing down their orders, looking around the table.

"Boring," Dan answered. The others muttered in agreement.

Del lowered his voice and made sure that no one was listening in on them. "Any Ranger activity today?" he asked.

"Nope," Tiz said, smiling grimly. "But, the day is young. They still have plenty of time to attack." He didn't have to explain who "they" were. It was obvious to everyone there who he was talking about.

"Yeah," Del said. "Hopefully they'll leave you alone for today, though, so you can have a break after break." He chuckled as he went over to the counter to give their orders to Will.

Tiz smiled slyly at Sean, remembering what had happened at lunch that day. Pointing his finger at him, he shot a bit of static electricity at him, making his hair stand up on end again.

"Hey!" the White Ranger cried. But before he had a chance to retaliate, a stream of water hit Tiz smack in the face. He turned to Peg to see her laughing at him, her finger still pointing towards him.

"Hey, that's not cool!" Tiz said, glaring at her, a smile still on his face. "I didn't do anything to you!"

"I know," Peg said simply, grinning at him. "But I did something to you. What are you going to do about it?"

"Absolutely nothing," Dan said, making a fireball in his hand and stretching it out between his two friends. "Or you'll have me to deal with," he added with a laugh.

Beth sighed audibly. "It's not fair that you guys can use your powers whenever you want like that," she said, a bit surprised at the anger in her own voice. "You guys got cool powers. I got the stupid Element of Earth. It's the weakest of all of them. I can't even use my powers unless it's a big attack." She stood up from the table and glared down at them, but not because she was angry at them, because she was angry at her Element. "Why did I get this stupid Element?" she asked, trying to keep her voice down. "It's not fair that my Element sucks. I hate it. I think it chose the wrong person." With that, she turned and ran out of the café, tears of frustration stinging her eyes.

The others looked at each other, shocked at what they had just heard. Beth was never one to get so upset like that. Sean stood up as well and ran after her, hoping to catch up before she got too far away.

Erica came out of her room, a confident smile on her face. She had come up with what she thought would be the perfect monster. It would definitely force the Rangers to use their Elements, just like Stephen wanted them to do. She walked up to the two boys and grinned at them.

"I got a good one," she said simply.

"It had better be good," Stephen said, his face not changing from the normal scowl he usually had. The three of them formed the circle and created the monster in the same way they usually did. Stephen raised his eyebrows at it and smiled a little. "It looks tough," he said, looking it up and down. "Hopefully, it's as strong as it looks." He turned to the youngest member of the Chaos Three. "Rufus." The boy nodded, knowing what he meant.

"Alright," he said. "Your name shall be…Sygyrx." As soon as he named the monster, it teleported away, reappearing right in front of the café.

Sean ran up to Beth, who wasn't far from the entrance to the café. She had stopped running and was walking slowly now, hanging her head sadly. Sean put his hand on her shoulder gently and stopped her, but before he had a chance to say anything, Sygyrx appeared right before them. Beth let out a startled scream and stood back, getting into a fighting pose. Sean did the same, and they started to fight with the monster.

Dan, Tiz, and Peg heard the scream coming from outside and knew that something was wrong. They ran out of the café along with Will and everyone else who had been inside. There weren't many people that day for whatever reason, and the few people who had been there were now fleeing as fast as they could. It didn't take long for the Rangers to spot Beth and Sean fighting Sygyrx off to the right. They ran over to help.

Dan flew in, kicking the monster in the chest and sending him flying on his back. He stood up almost immediately, though, and it slapped Dan across the chest, causing him to fall over backwards. Tiz came up from behind and kicked Sygyrx in the back, making him stumble forward. While he was caught off guard, Beth and Peg each grabbed one of his arms, holding him still, and Dan and Sean ran forward and gave him roundhouse kicks to the abdomen. The monster keeled over in pain, but it soon recovered and pulled out a sword that they hadn't seen before. He slashed it at each of the rangers, sending them flying across the pavement. Now, they were about 30 or so feet away from him, struggling to stand up.

Tiz looked at Dan. "What should we do?" he asked. "Should we morph?" The Red Ranger shook his head.

"Guys, let's use our Elements on this one," he said with a grin. The others smiled as well and nodded at him, all except for Beth, who looked a bit dejected. Dan was the first to move. He made a huge fireball with both of his hands and sent it flying at Sygyrx. The monster dodged it, though, doing a sideways somersault out of the way. Dan cursed and prepared to try again, but Tiz put his hand on his chest, stopping him.

"Let me try," he said. He thrust his hands forward and sent a powerful electric beam at the monster. It hit him head on and caused him to start convulsing as the electricity surged through his body. "Now, Peg!" Tiz cried, turning to the Blue Ranger, who nodded at him. She shot a large stream of water at Sygyrx, soaking him through and causing the electricity to intensify, being conducted more by the water.

Sean stepped forward. "It's my turn, now!" he said, grinning. He put his hands forward and caused a huge amount of wind, making it swirl together in a mini tornado. It lifted Sygyrx high off the ground and dropped him again, causing him to crash to the earth with a loud bang.

Beth took a deep breath and went forward as well. "Here goes nothing," she whispered. She concentrated hard and caused the ground to start shaking, first just a little, then more and more strongly. A crack opened up in the ground below where the monster was lying. He fell into the crack and Beth concentrated more and closed it again. But, the earth was still shaking.

"Beth!" Dan yelled over the noise caused by the shaking. "That's enough. You can stop now."

The Green Ranger closed her eyes and shook her head. "I can't stop it!" she cried. "It won't stop! I…I can't…stop it…" She stood a bit apart from them, and the quaking of the earth still resonated from where she was standing.

"She can't control it," Will said softly. He had been wondering when this would happen to someone. But, he hadn't expected it to be Beth.

The Green ranger opened her eyes again and looked pleadingly at her friends as the shaking continued, still just as intense as it had been before. "Help me…" she whispered, tears stinging her eyes.

At last, Sean moved forward and stood right in front of Beth. He put his arms around her waist gently and looked into her eyes.

"It's okay, Beth," he said, his voice nearly drowned out by the loudness of the earthquake. "You can stop this. I know you can." She shook her head sadly and closed her eyes, turning away from him. He brought a hand up to her cheek and turned her face to his. "Look at me, Beth," he demanded in a gentle tone. She obeyed and gazed at him through her tears. "You can do it. I believe in you, because, Bethy, I…" his voice faltered a bit and he paused. "I love you."

Beth gasped slightly and stared at him in awe. Had he really just said that he loved her? She smiled at him, struggling to do so. "I love you too, Sean," she said. Smiling, he leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She kissed him back happily. As they kissed, the shaking started to subside, growing less and less as time went by, until, at last, it stopped altogether. Sean pulled away from her gently and smiled. She smiled back at him for a moment, looking perfectly peaceful and content. But, then, her eyes closed softly and she started to fall backwards, unconscious. Sean let out a cry and caught her in his strong arms, laying her carefully on the pavement.

Stephen looked through the telescope and sighed. The plan had failed. Although, as he thought, in a way, it had worked. After all, what they had wanted to happen was for the Rangers to use their powers, and they had, right? Sure, Sygyrx hadn't destroyed them, but at least they had used their Elements as he had hoped. Another plus was that the Green Ranger was now unconscious, fully drained from her intense attack. Stephen was a bit shocked still from that. He had never seen such an attack. Of course, it was because she had lost control, but it still showed that she had incredible power once she tapped into it.

He glanced over at his two companions, who looked worried. He smiled, realizing that they expected him to get angry at them for not making the monster strong enough. He took grim pleasure in the thought that he could instill fear into the hearts of Erica and Rufus. Taking on a serious expression again, he motioned for Rufus to take over at the telescope and left the room, going to his own and closing the door.

Erica and Rufus glanced at each other as he left, sighing with relief that he hadn't exploded at them. They couldn't imagine why; it was so uncharacteristic of Stephen. But, they decided not to question it and just to be happy that they hadn't gotten yelled at that day.

Will came out of the back room of the café, looking at the floor and frowning. The four Rangers sat at their table, each with worried looks on their faces. It was after closing time for the Overclocked Café, but they were still there anyways.

Will went over to the table and sighed. They looked at him expectantly, but he said nothing at first.

"Well?" Sean asked finally. "How is she?"

Will didn't lift his eyes from the floor. "Physically, she's fine," he said slowly. "But…she doesn't remember anything that happened yesterday. All she remembers is the sensation of shaking and that she caused it. She doesn't know why or how she stopped, or anything else that happened."

Sean stared at him in disbelief, almost unable to speak. At last, he found his voice. "N…nothing?" he said. "She doesn't remember anything? Not even…when I…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Will just nodded solemnly. Silence filled the table as Sean fought back tears. There was a pause, and no one could think of what to say. At last, Dan spoke, breaking the dull silence in the room.

"Can we see her?" he asked, talking to Will.

"Yes, but you should probably only go in one at a time," he responded. "As you can imagine, she's pretty upset right now."

Sean stood up. "I'll go first," he said. Without waiting for an answer, he headed towards the back of the café. When he got to the back room behind the counter, he found Beth lying on a small cot, a white pillow under her head. She sat up as he entered, and he sat next to her.

"Hey, Bethy," he said softly and gently. "How are you feeling?" She shrugged.

"Okay, I guess. It's freaky, though, knowing that I don't remember anything that happened yesterday…" Her voice trailed off as Sean lay a hand on hers.

"You really don't remember anything?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Except for intense shaking. But…" she paused for a moment. "Even that is starting to fade…It's so weird. It's like yesterday never happened…" She looked into the White Ranger's eyes. "Sean, what happened yesterday?"

He looked away painfully and shook his head. "You don't want to know, Beth. Believe me."

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!

lil Cwick-I'm glad you like that! I wanted to show the difference between Dark Elementsand normal Elements.

juzblue-I'm glad you enjoyed it!


	7. Secret Wind

A/N: Yay! It's Sean's episode! This one is a lot longer than I originally intended it to be, but it's still good, I think. I hope you like it, guys!

Now, without further ado, I give you, Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 7. Enjoy!

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Episode 7: Secret Wind

Sean Varsiano woke up to the annoying blare of his alarm clock. He reached over quickly to turn it off, plunging the house into silence again. Groaning sleepily, he checked the clock and saw that it was 7:01 am. He yawned and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Once he was fully awake, he stood up and started to get dressed.

He sighed sadly as he dressed, thinking about what had happened on Monday. It wasn't fair, he thought. He had finally gained the courage to tell Beth how he felt about her, and she didn't even remember it. Will had explained that this was because of the stress put on her from using her Element to such an extent and losing control of it. He had also said that the reason she lost control was because she "didn't have faith in her Element". Because she doubted its power and its choosing her, it became uncontrollable for a time. If she learned to have faith in her power, Will assured her that it wouldn't happen again.

This explanation of why she had forgotten the events of that day did not make Sean feel any better about it. The fact was that he had told her his feelings at last, and now, she didn't remember, and it was like it had never happened. Sean didn't know if he would have the courage to tell her again, at least not any time soon. It had been hard enough to tell her once, even in such a time of stress, but two times…

Once he was dressed and ready for school, Sean left his room and went into the room next to his. On a little bed up against the wall, a small girl was sleeping. She was about 6 years old, and she held some resemblance to the White Ranger. He smiled at her sleeping form and walked up to the bed, shaking her gently.

"Marie," he said softly. "Time to wake up." The girl murmured something in her sleep and rolled over, but she showed no signs of waking. Sean laughed quietly and shook her again, this time speaking a bit louder. "Come on, sleepy," he said. "It's time to get up." At last, her eyelids fluttered open and she gazed at him with her tiny blue eyes.

"Good morning, Sean," she said, half cheerfully and half sleepily. She yawned and smiled at him.

"Morning, little one," he said, smiling back at her. Marie was Sean's little sister. She was 6 years old, she had just started kindergarten, and she was his big secret, the one thing his friends didn't know about him.

When Marie was two years old and Sean was 13, their parents died in a car accident, leaving them all alone. Their uncle had come to live with them for a while, but he only stayed for a year before mysteriously disappearing one day. Sean didn't know why he left or where he went, but he didn't really care. His uncle was not a nice man, and he was anything but kind to his niece and nephew. It was also a mystery that Social Services never came to take them to a foster home or anything. Sean and Marie were left alone in the world, but Sean liked it better that way. Ever since his uncle left, he had taken care of his sister all by himself, somehow. It wasn't easy, but his next door neighbor Kim, who had graduated from high school a year ago, helped by babysitting Marie while Sean was at school or work.

At first, it had been easy enough to keep his sister a secret from his friends. She spent most of her time at Kim's house playing with her little sister who was the same age as her. Now, though, Marie had started kindergarten, which she had in the afternoons. Luckily, if Sean went as fast as he could after his school to Kim's house, he would be able to get his sister to kindergarten on time. Her school had a different Spring Break than his. It had been a week before theirs, and that was why he had been late meeting his friends so often. He had had to take her to school at those times.

Sean sighed as he helped Marie get dressed. He wished that he didn't have to keep her a secret, but he knew that he didn't have any choice. The fact was, he was only 17 and too young to live by himself without parents, let alone taking care of a 6 year old. But, neither of them wanted to go to a foster home, especially since there was a chance they might get separated. So, they agreed to keep their situation a secret to everyone except for Kim. It was harder for him than for her, though. Marie only had to pretend at school that she had parents, but Sean had to pretend he had parents and that he didn't have a sister. It was especially difficult with his friends, and it was only getting harder now that she was in kindergarten. They were getting suspicious as to why he was always late, he could tell. But, they couldn't know about Marie. Although he was sure he could trust them not to tell, he was still scared to get the secret out at all. Things happened, and…It was too risky, he decided.

Once Marie was dressed and ready, Sean grabbed his backpack and the two of them walked hand in hand to Kim's house. Marie insisted on being the one to knock on the door, so Sean picked her up so that she could reach the door knocker. It didn't take long for Kim to answer, and her bright smile greeted them as usual.

"Good morning, Sean," she said cheerfully. "Good morning, Marie." The two siblings returned the greeting.

Sean leaned down and hugged his sister. "Have a good day, little one," he said. "Be good for Kim."

Marie hugged her brother back and kissed him on the cheek. "I always am, right?" she asked, looking up at her babysitter, who smiled and nodded. "Good bye, Sean." With that, the two girls went inside the house and shut the door. Sean walked back over to his house and climbed into his car, driving off towards the school. He hated having to leave Marie with a babysitter all the time and not being able to spend much time with her, but she had told him many times that it was okay and she didn't mind. She was such a sweet child, he thought with a smile.

Rufus gazed through the telescope, blinking, a look of surprise on his face. So, that was the White Ranger's secret, he thought. The one time he had read the Yellow Ranger's mind, he had heard some thoughts that Sean was acting strange lately and that he might be hiding something from them. Now, Rufus knew just what that was. He grinned evilly as an idea came to him. As much as he hated to do it, he decided to enlist the help of Stephen for this plan. He looked around the room and found the older boy standing not too far away, looking off into space and obviously deep in thought. Rufus cringed, knowing that his superior didn't like to be interrupted when he was thinking, but he felt that his plan was good enough that it wouldn't matter much.

"The White Ranger has a secret," Rufus said in a casual tone, still looking through the telescope. From the corner of his eye, he saw Stephen start out of his trance-like thinking state and turn to him angrily. The anger soon melted into curiosity once what Rufus had said registered to him. Erica, who was also in the room, perked up as well and gave him a questioning look.

"Oh, really?" Stephen asked, trying to sound casual and uninterested. "And what's that?"

Rufus finally turned away from the telescope and faced the leader of the Chaos Three. "He has a sister he's hiding from the others."

Erica grinned. "We can use that against him," she said, walking over to where Rufus was standing. "If the others found out that he's been keeping something from them, they're bound to be angry, right?"

"Right," Stephen said, coming a bit closer to them. "This is an excellent opportunity to stir up some trouble amongst the team. We must find a way to reveal his secret to his team mates." He paused, thinking for a second. "But, how?" He looked at each of his companions in turn. "Any ideas?" he asked.

Erica thought for a moment, then returned his gaze. "We could kidnap her," she suggested. "We'll make sure that the White Ranger knows who did it, of course. Then, he'll have to tell his friends his secret in order to get them to help him save her. They'll do whatever they can to help, of course, but the trust amongst the team will be broken when they find out he's been hiding something like this." She held her breath uncontrollably, waiting for an answer from Stephen. She hoped he liked her plan.

"An excellent idea, Erica," he said after a moment's thought. The girl let out the breath she was holding and relaxed, feeling relieved. "Now," Stephen continued, looking away from her and grinning evilly. "We must think of how to go about setting this plan into motion."

After school that day, which seemed to take forever, Sean drove back to Kim's house to pick up Marie and take her to kindergarten. It didn't take long to get there because his school was fairly close to home. When he knocked on his neighbor's door, it was opened by his sister, who jumped up in his arms and hugged him around the neck. He hugged her tightly as well, and, after saying goodbye to Kim, the two of them piled in his car and headed to the kindergarten.

"So," Sean said as he drove, glancing down at his sister and smiling. "How was your morning with Kim and Sammy?" Sammy was Kim's sister.

"Fun, as always," Marie replied, grinning. She proceeded to explain with great detail everything the three of them had done that day. It was a ritual of theirs to tell each other everything they did when they were not together. At first, Sean felt bad because he couldn't tell her everything. After all, he couldn't exactly tell her that he was a Ranger. But, it wasn't long after he became a Ranger that Marie found out his secret. She was a very observant girl, and it didn't take her long to make the connection between his "watch" and the morphers she had seen on the Rangers on the news. After making sure that she understood that she must keep this information a secret, Sean was actually happy and relieved that she knew. Now, his stories weren't so blank, and he didn't feel guilty about hiding something from his sister. Plus, it was nice having someone to talk to about his Rangerhood besides his team mates for some reason.

As they pulled up to the small kindergarten building, Sean finished telling her what had happened on Monday. The girl was especially interested in this story, especially since she had known for a long time that her brother had a crush on his friend Beth. Not only could she tell from his stories, but he had trusted her with this information and told her himself. One day, Marie hoped to meet this Beth so she could make sure she was good enough for her brother. The two of them were very protective of each other.

Sean parked in front of the school and unlocked the door, allowing Marie to get out. She would not allow him to take her to her classroom, saying that she was grown up enough to go by herself. Before leaving the car, though, she leaned across her seat and kissed her brother on the cheek, saying goodbye in her cheerful, childish tone. Sean smiled at her and waved, waiting in the parking space until she had made it inside the building. Once she was safely inside, he pulled out and made his way to the Overclocked Café to meet his friends as usual.

When he got there, he saw that Beth was working today. He was kind of happy about that, because it would give him a chance to talk to the others for a while. After he sat down next to Tiz and they all exchanged their usual greeting, Sean took a deep breath and looked sadly at the table in front of him.

"I still can't believe that Beth forgot what happened on Monday." His voice was soft, although Beth was on the other side of the café and couldn't possibly hear him. The other Rangers looked around at each other and there was a moment's silence.

"Well, it makes sense after what happened that day," Dan said at last. "As Will said, Beth used her powers too strongly, and the stress and energy put into that was too much for her. Will said he was surprised something worse didn't happen."

"I know," Sean said. "But, that doesn't make it any better. I mean, I poured my heart out to her and finally told her how I felt, and now she doesn't remember. It's not her fault of course, but it still depresses me."

Tiz laid his hand on his friend's shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look. "Well," he said. "Why don't you tell her again? She said she feels the same way."

Sean closed his eyes tightly and shook his head slowly. "I can't. It was hard enough the first time. I don't think I could do it again, at least not any time soon." His voice trailed off sadly as he opened his eyes again and continued to stare at the table.

"Well," Peg said. "If that's how you feel, I don't know what to tell you, Sean." The White Ranger made no response, and an uncomfortable silence filled the table. Soon, though, it was broken by two familiar voices coming up to them and saying, "Hey, guys!" The Rangers turned to see Angela and Jorge walking up, hand in hand, smiling at them. They all returned the greeting warmly, even Sean, although he didn't exactly feel cheerful. The two non-rangers sat across from each other at the table, which was big enough to hold all of them, luckily. Angela sat next to Peg and Jorge next to Sean.

"So, what's up?" Angela asked, eager to start a conversation. "School is sucking again already, isn't it?"

"Heck yeah," Tiz said, grinning. "It's so boring, and it's cutting into my gaming time."

Peg rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, you would say that, Tiz." She smiled, then sighed. "Yeah, it's boring," she said. "And I already have a test coming up this week."

Jorge smiled grimly. "You're lucky, then," he said. "I've already had two tests this week, and it's only Wednesday." The others gave him sympathetic glances, and the words "Poor Jorge" and "That sucks, man" were heard around the table. He grinned and shook his head. "Eh, it's not that bad. It could always be worse, right?"

"Yep," Sean said softly, more to himself than the others. "It could always be worse." Jorge heard him and looked at him questioningly, but before he had a chance to say anything, they were interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing. Sean pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello?" he said. He paused for a moment, listening to the voice on the other side. "What! Is she okay?" Another pause. "Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you." He closed his phone and put it back in his pocket, motioning to Jorge that he needed to get up. Jorge stood up to let him out.

"What happened?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Uh, nothing," was Sean's answer as he looked away. "I've got to go, though, guys. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he turned and started walking out of the café.

Just then, Beth walked up to the table. "Hey, guys," she said. "Where's Sean going?"

"I don't know," Dan answered. "He just got some sort of phone call and now he has to leave."

Beth frowned, thinking for a second. "Well, I'm on break now, and I'm going to follow him. He's been acting strange lately, and I want to find out why." Without waiting for the others to respond, the Green Ranger turned and ran out of the café and to the parking lot. She climbed into her sister's car, which she had borrowed that day, and took off after Sean, who was just pulling out of the driveway. She knew it was wrong to spy on him like this, but she had to get to the bottom of his strange behavior. He had been late meeting them all during Spring Break, and then he had something to do after school every day, and now he had gotten a mysterious phone call and taken off. Beth had to find out why.

Before long, Sean turned into a driveway and parked in front of what Beth knew was a kindergarten building and went inside. "That's weird," she said to herself. "What is he doing here?" She parked next to him and waited, wondering what would happen next. Soon, Sean came back out of the building carrying a small girl in his arms. She had a bandage wrapped around her leg. After putting her in his car, Sean drove away, and Beth followed.

It wasn't long before the White Ranger parked in the driveway of an unfamiliar house. Was this where Sean lived? Beth realized now that she had never been to his house before. She parked on the street in front of the house and watched as he got out and picked up the girl again. This was just too weird, Beth thought. Who was that girl? Sean never mentioned any siblings or anything. Sighing, she got out of the car and went over to him as he walked up to the door of the house.

"Hi, Sean," she said in a bewildered voice. The White Ranger gave a start and turned around to see Beth standing near him. He winced a little and set the girl down on the ground in front of him.

"Go on inside, Marie," he said in a gentle tone. "I'll be there in a second." The girl nodded and went inside silently. Sean turned back to Beth and sighed, saying nothing.

"So," the Green Ranger said. "Who was that?" Sean looked down sadly, an almost worried look on his face.

"That's my sister, Marie," he said with an effort. "She fell and sprained her ankle, so I had to go pick her up early from kindergarten."

"Why couldn't your parents do that?"

Sean hesitated for a second. At last, he decided that he could trust Beth, and he couldn't exactly lie to her now.

"I don't have any parents," he said. Beth looked shocked, but she said nothing. Sean proceeded to explain his situation to her in detail, something he never intended to do ever. Somehow, when he finished telling her, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.

"So, you've been taking care of her by yourself, Sean?" Beth asked, an amazed look on her face. Her friend nodded. "Wow," she said. But, before she could say anything else, a small voice interrupted them.

"Who's this, Sean?" The two Rangers looked down to see Marie standing there, looking up at her brother. He smiled at her and picked her up gently.

"Marie," he said. "This is my friend Beth." The two of them exchanged knowing glances before the girl extended her small hand to the Green Ranger.

"Hello, Beth," she said as she shook her hand.

"Hello, Marie," Beth responded, smiling at her. "It's nice to meet you." Marie opened her mouth to respond, but instead of words, a scream came out. The others turned to see what she was screaming about and saw that a group of Crodus had appeared in front of the house. Sean carefully placed his sister on the step and told her to go back inside. He didn't notice that she didn't obey, though, as he ran forward towards the Crodus, Beth following behind him. The two started fighting them, wondering why they had chosen now to attack.

Beth kicked a Crodu away as it came towards her and sent it flying into another one. She then turned around and punched one in the face, if you could call it a face. Then, one came up from behind and grabbed her. Sean saw this and he came up from the side and kicked the Crodus' hip, making it let go and fly off sideways. Beth smiled at her friend and nodded a thank you before continuing to fight. As a Crodu tried to sneak up behind Sean, he elbowed it in the head then turned around and kicked it. As the Green and White Rangers fought, they realized that the number of Crodus never seemed to diminish, even though they had defeated many of them, more seemed to take their place almost immediately.

"Beth!" Sean cried over the noise of the battle. "We'll have to morph!" Beth glanced towards the house and saw that Marie was standing there watching them.

"We can't," she said, motioning in the girl's direction.

"Don't worry," Sean said with a smile. "She already knows that I'm a Ranger." Beth gave him a surprised look, but she decided not to say anything about it. She just nodded at him and prepared to morph.

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

With that, the two of them morphed into their respective Ranger colors.

"Perhaps we should use our weapons," Beth suggested. Sean nodded.

"White Wind Bow!"

"Green Earth Daggers!"

Sean immediately started shooting arrows at the Crodus while Beth attacked with her daggers. She slashed across the chest of a nearby Crodu and sent sparks flying off of it. Then, she kicked hard in the chest. Suddenly, a Crodu tried to attack Beth from behind, but she didn't notice that it was there, because she was fighting one in front of her. Sean noticed, though, and he shot an arrow through it, glaring at it from beneath his helmet. As another Crodu ran up to Sean, the White Ranger took out one of his arrows and stabbed it through the creature, pulling it back out again and shooting it at another one.

Then, he heard a horrible noise coming from the direction of the house; the sound of his sister screaming. He turned to look just in time to see a Crodu grab her and disappear, teleporting away with her.

"No!" Sean cried as the other Crodus disappeared as well. Beth ran up to him.

"What happened?" She asked, powering down. Sean did the same thing, and as he did Beth could see tears shining in his eyes.

"They took her," he said, anger simmering in his voice. "They took Marie."

Stephen smiled as the Crodu appeared in front of him, carrying a small, struggling thing.

"Perfect," he said. He motioned something to the Crodu, and it proceeded to tie the girl to a nearby chair, placing a gag around her mouth. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and there was fear in her eyes, something Stephen loved to see.

After the Crodu finished its job, Stephen glanced at it and shot a fireball, destroying it instantly. What good was it now? It had served its purpose, and he could always make more later. Now, he turned his attention to his young captive. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to figure out where she was. They were in a warehouse outside of town that hadn't been used in years.

Stephen realized that this would probably be the first place the Rangers would go to look for the girl he had just captured, but he didn't mind. He wanted them to find her. Having captured her wasn't the goal. The goal was to make the other Rangers stop trusting the White Ranger when they realized that he had kept a secret from them. Stephen was only slightly disappointed in the way the Green Ranger had responded to finding out the secret, but she was just one Ranger. The others were sure to react differently, and in the way he wanted them to react.

Just then, Erica and Rufus came into the room. Erica grinned.

"I see phase one of the plan has worked out nicely," she said, looking at Marie. She felt kind of bad for the poor girl, who looked so frightened right now. But, she shook the feeling way and replaced it with a feeling of triumph. Her plan might actually work! Stephen would be proud of her if it did. Then he wouldn't think she was pathetic like he did now. He would respect her for once.

The leader of the Chaos Three grinned at Erica, knowing what she was probably thinking. He then motioned to her to leave and started to leave himself. Turning back to Rufus, he spoke to him.

"Stay here and guard her." The younger boy nodded as Erica and Stephen left the room. Rufus looked sadly at Marie with pity in his eyes. She looked so scared right now. And why shouldn't she, he thought. For all she knew, they intended to hurt or kill her or something. Rufus winced, trying to imagine what must be going on in her mind right now. At last, he couldn't stand it anymore and he went over to her, leaning down so he was at eye level with her.

"Hey," he said gently. "If I take the gag off of you, do you promise not to scream?" He decided that if he could talk to her and allow her to talk to him, he might be able to make her feel a little better. She nodded in response to his question, so it untied the gag from around her mouth and took it off. He smiled at her. "That's better, isn't it?"

She forced a smile and said a weak thank you, fear still evident in her tone.

"So, what's your name?" Rufus asked her, figuring that if he could get her to talk it would make her feel better.

"Marie Varsiano," she said softly.

"Marie, eh?" Rufus asked. "That's a nice name. My name is Rufus." Marie giggled.

"Rufus?" she said. "I like that name. It sounds cool."

He laughed as well. "Thanks," he said. The two of them talked for a long time, not interrupted by Stephen and Erica. It was obvious that the conversation was helping Marie, and she was feeling a lot less scared now.

About half an hour after the fight with the Crodus, the five Rangers were all gathered in Sean's house, along with Will. Beth had contacted them through their morphers and told them to come here. Sean had just finished telling them his situation and what had happened that day. Silence filled the room as the others let the new information sink in. They couldn't believe that Sean was taking care of his little sister by himself, but more importantly they couldn't believe that he hadn't told them about this sooner. Dan was the first to speak, and he asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

Sean hung his head sadly and hesitated before responding. "Well," he said. "I'm only 17, and technically not old enough to take care of Marie by myself. I was afraid that if anyone found out about this, she would get taken away from me and we might both be placed in a foster home, or, worse, get separated. So, I kept it a secret from everyone."

"Sean," Peg said gently. "You know we wouldn't have told anyone about this."

He nodded. "I know. But, I didn't want to risk getting the secret out at all. I know I can trust you guys, but things happen, and, I guess I was just being paranoid."

"Yes, you were," Tiz said with a laugh. Sean smiled but said nothing in response.

"Although you're right and you shouldn't be living without an adult, and let alone caring for a little kid," Will began giving the White Ranger a stern look, "I understand you not wanting to be separated from her. So, your secret is safe with me."

The others agreed with him in their own way, and Sean smiled at them.

"Thanks, guys," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

"That's okay, Sean," Beth said, hugging him. "I'm glad we know now, though."

"Yes," Will said. "And now we have to figure out where the Chaos Three are keeping her." Sean gave him a serious look and nodded.

"Where do you think they could be?" Dan asked. "There aren't a lot of places around here where they could hide and remain unnoticed."

Tiz thought for a moment. "There is that abandoned warehouse outside of town," he suggested. "No one's been there for a long time, and I think they're going to condemn it soon."

"That's a good place to start looking," Will agreed. "You'd better hurry, though." The others nodded and went outside.

"I'll drive," Dan said, and they all piled into his car and headed for the warehouse. It took them about ten minutes to get there, but it seemed like an eternity to Sean. He said a silent prayer that they would find Marie soon and that she would be okay. He promised himself that the Chaos Three would pay if they hurt her in any way at all.

When they got to the warehouse, they all got out of the car and stared at the ominous building. Of course, this place was an extremely obvious place for the Chaos Three to hide, seeing as it was the only real abandoned building around here (besides the jailhouse, but the Rangers figured their enemies wouldn't use the same place twice). But, they decided to check here anyways. This kidnapping could be a trap, perhaps, and maybe they wanted to be found. If that was the case, the Rangers would be sure not to disappoint them.

"Ready, guys?" Dan asked, looking around at his team. They nodded and prepared to morph before going inside.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

With the Ranger morphed and made their way inside the warehouse. There were a few small rooms off to the sides, but most of them were obviously locked. The main room is what caught the Ranger's attention. It was large and dusty, filled with old crates and empty boxes making many great hiding places. Dan motioned to the others to spit up and search quietly, hoping that the Chaos Three did not know they were there yet.

Even though the room was quite massive, it didn't take long for Sean and Beth to find Rufus kneeling next to Marie. Sean was about to rush forward and attack him, but Beth held him back and called Dan on her morpher, talking quietly so she wouldn't be heard. She told the Red Ranger her position, and the other Rangers closed in around the spot, which was in the middle of the room. Once they had the spot surrounded, Dan motioned for them to come forward.

"Let her go, Rufus!" the Red Ranger cried, holding his sword out towards his enemy. Rufus stood and put his hands up in a motion of surrender, but the Rangers were still on their guard.

"Fine," the Chaos Three member said. "Go ahead and take her."

Marie, seeing the Rangers around her, turned to the White Ranger and smiled at him. "Sean!" she cried. "I knew you'd find me." Dan, Tiz, and Peg were confused by this, but Sean and Beth understood. They nodded at each other as the White Ranger went in and untied his sister, still keeping a wary eye on Rufus.

"Don't worry, guys," Beth explained. "Marie knows that Sean is a Ranger." Once Marie was untied, she hugged Sean tightly, a bit of fear still in her tiny eyes. Rufus smiled at her for a second, secretly glad that she was safe now. But, he knew he had to do something or Stephen would think he let her go on purpose and he would be angry. Backing off into the shadows, he shot an electric bolt at Peg, sending her flying back into a nearby crate.

"Peggy!" Dan cried, rushing over to his friend's side. Rufus laughed and shot another stream of electricity at him, causing him to fall forward on top of the Blue Ranger.

"Hey, leave them alone!" Tiz said, glaring from under his helmet. He demorphed and shot his own thunder bolt at the place the other electricity had come from. Rufus cried out in pain and stumbled forward into the light, clutching at his stomach. Sean stood up and demorphed as well, sending a strong wind at his enemy. He looked from Marie to the Green Ranger.

"Beth, could you take Marie outside where she'll be safe?" he asked. Beth nodded and demorphed, picking up the little girl and heading outside with her.

By this time, Dan and Peg had gotten up and demorphed, ready for an Element battle with Rufus. The four Rangers and one Chaos Three member stood in battle positions, facing each other, ready to fight. Before they hade a chance, though, the menacing form of Stephen appeared from the shadows where he had, apparently, been invisible, watching them. He turned to his team mate.

"Come on," he said. "The plan failed. Let's get out of here."

Rufus nodded and said the name of his leader and of Erica as well, knowing she was still in the warehouse somewhere. Just before they teleported away, Stephen sent a large fireball at the Rangers, causing them all to collapse in pain.

Stephen, Rufus, and Erica teleported to the tower, each appearing in their own respective colors. The oldest member of the Chaos Three growled angrily and went over to the telescope, looking at the place in the warehouse where they had just been. The Rangers were getting up painfully and heading outside where Beth and Marie were waiting. Stephen glared at Erica, intending to yell at her for the failure of her plan. But, he relented, deciding that that would be fruitless. The plan had failed because the Rangers were too close knit to allow something like a secret to tear them apart. The Chaos Three had been expecting them to get angry at their team mate for keeping a secret from them, but instead they had been understanding and kind about it. That thought sickened Stephen, but it didn't exactly surprise him. That seemed to be how friends were with each other on Earth, and, he guessed, on Trienith as well. Not that he would know that first hand, seeing as his only "friends" were Erica and Rufus, and they were more like servants in his eyes, although they really weren't, he knew.

Sighing deeply, he went off to his room, wanting to be alone with his thoughts. He had to find a way to defeat those Rangers somehow, he knew. But how? He obviously couldn't tear them apart. That had been proven today. But, was there any way he could use their closeness against them? Grinning, he realized that that was exactly what he had to do. Now, he just had to figure out how.

Erica sighed with relief, expecting again to get yelled at by Stephen for the failure of her plan. She couldn't help wondering why he hadn't gotten angry at her, but she decided not to question it as she went in her room to sleep. She was tired and it had been a long day. Before closing the door to her room, she glanced over at Rufus who was looking through the telescope and smiled at him.

Rufus focused the telescope to show outside the warehouse, where the Rangers had gone out to meet Beth and Marie. He smiled as he watched the White Ranger pick up his sister and hug her tightly. The two of them looked so happy. Rufus sighed, though, not knowing why he cared. The Rangers were his enemies, after all. Looking at them one last time, he turned away from the telescope and went to his room. Lying on his bed and pulling out his book, he began to read.

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!

lil Cwick-Glad you like it!

juzblue-I know, isn't that sad? Poor Sean!

Girl of Many Faces-Wow, this was the first PR fic you've read? That's cool. I'm glad you liked it. The reason I don't use lines or anything to separate one perspective from the next is because I usually change perspective by paragraphs or sections. When there are three spaces between paragraphs instead of two, it means that it's a different section.

Hikaru Shido-I'm glad you liked the first episode. Hopefully you'll read the others too lol. And by the way, I'm not "man" lol I would be "girl" or "chick" or something ;-) lol


	8. Light the Fire Again part 1

A/N: Wow, this episode sure didn't take long to write lol I didn't have class this morning, so I spent all morning writing. This episode is a bit shorter than some of the others, but it's still good. It's Will's episode.

Anyways, without further ado, I give you, the first part of our very second ever two part episode, Power Rangers Element Storm chapter 8. Enjoy!

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Episode 8: Light the Fire Again part 1

Will opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the bright sunlight that flooded into his room from the open window. Rolling over on his side, he glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand next to his bed. It read 6:59 am; exactly one minute before the time he had set his alarm to wake him up at. He smiled and chuckled to himself as he switched off the alarm before it sounded. He had always had an uncanny way of waking up exactly when he told himself he wanted to. It was almost as if he had an internal alarm clock in his brain.

Yawning slightly, he got up from his bed and got dressed. Once he was full clothed in a pair of black pants and a somewhat dark red shirt, he went out into the café to open it. Will lived in the back room of the café, although the Rangers didn't know that. It was something he really didn't feel they needed to know right now. Unlocking the front door, he switched the sign over from the "Closed" side to the "Open" side. Today was Friday, which meant that it would be a lot less crowded this afternoon. For some reason, Fridays brought in less business than other days of the week. Will guessed that it was probably because high school students, his usual customers, were out on dates and hanging out with their friends over the weekend at other places than they did during the week. On most days, the Overclocked Café was full of high school students who enjoyed the place after school. But, on the weekends, they looked for something different to do.

Will knew, though, that five of his usual customers would still be there. Dan, Peg, Sean, Beth, and Tiz spent ever afternoon there, mainly because Will was there, and they liked being near to their mentor, whether they knew it or not. It was a subconscious connection, but it was there all the same.

During school hours, the café was rather empty. Will was glad of that, because both of his employees were also in class at this time, so he had to handle any customers he got by himself. Sometimes, adults would stop by before work to get something small for breakfast, such as a pastry or a cup of coffee. But, mostly, it was quiet while school was in. Will appreciated this time, because it gave him a chance to think while he was alone.

He closed the now unlocked door of the café and went back behind the counter, sitting at his stool and leaning his head on his hands, which were propped up on his elbows. He stared off into space, becoming lost in his thoughts. Suddenly, a once familiar name popped up in his head, and he whispered it quietly.

"Anaia…" Tears came slowly to his eyes, but he would not let them fall. He closed his eyes softly and tried to force the name out of his head. But, it refused to disappear. "Anaia…"

Stephen smirked as he watched Will through the telescope. Although he couldn't hear what he was saying, he had a fairly good idea, judging by the tears that were now falling from his cheeks. So, Will was thinking of her, it seemed. It didn't surprise Stephen, but he found it rather entertaining. He would have liked to sit there and watch him for longer, savoring his pain, but, he had a plan to work on.

Turning away from the telescope, he faced his companions and cleared his throat loudly. Immediately, the two younger people jolted to attention, looking expectantly at Stephen, who grinned for a second before making a more serious face. He couldn't help but enjoy the fact that he could strike such fear into the hearts of his team mates. Chuckling a bit to himself, he spoke at last.

"I'm working on a plan that will help us get rid of the Rangers," he said simply, proceeding to explain his idea to Erica and Rufus. They looked at each other then back at him, smiling.

"Sounds good, Stephen," Erica said. "When do we start?" Stephen looked at her.

"As soon as you can come up with a good monster," he said. "We need a really strong one this time, so I want you to really work on it. Take as much time as you need. We're in no hurry today." With that, he turned and strode out of the room, heading for his own quarters. Erica did the same, lying on her bed, focusing all her thought into the mental creation of a monster. She had to do especially well this time, she knew. She wanted to make Stephen happy, and maybe this time she could actually do it.

Rufus was now left all alone in the main room. He looked around at the emptiness, then sighed. The silence in the tower was calm and quiet, but, in a way, it felt ominous. He shook the feeling away and went over to the telescope, glancing through it, peering into the outside world.

Glancing at his watch, Will saw that school had just ended for the day. On most days, the café would soon be filled to the brim with students flocking in like crows. But, today, he would see a lot less customers than usual. There were only six people he could be sure would be there: The five Element Storm Rangers, who spent every afternoon there, and Del, who was working today. If anyone else came in, it would be surprising.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, four of the five Rangers walked in and sat at their usual table. Will didn't even have to wonder where the fifth Ranger was. Sean would be picking his sister up from school right now, and he would probably be there soon. The next person who entered the café was Del, right on schedule. He came up to the counter and smiled at his boss.

"Hello, Will," he said in his cheerful voice.

"Hello, Del," his boss replied, smiling back at him. "Ready to work?" The boy nodded.

"It will be much easier today than usual, since there won't be as many customers, right?" Will nodded at his question and Del grinned. He turned around and went to the Rangers' table to take their orders as usual.

Suddenly, Will heard the bell ring on the door of the café, signifying that other people were coming. Turning to look, he expected to see Sean there, and maybe his sister as well. What he saw made him give a start and made his heart skip a beat. Two people entered, but they were not who he expected. ITheir faces/I, he thought. ISo familiar…/I Could it be them? Could it be…?

Two names popped up in his head, but he tried to force them out again. It didn't work, though, and he found himself saying the names softly out loud. "Alassea… Feanaro…" But, no. It wasn't possible. They couldn't possibly be them. For one, they were way too young. They would have to be his age, and these two were just teenagers. For another thing, he knew what had happened to the ones he was thinking of. They were…

He couldn't force himself to think of the word. He tried to shake the feeling away. There was no way they were who he thought they were. But, then, why did they look so much like them? It must just be coincidence, he thought. But he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling of familiarity, so he tried to just ignore it. The two people didn't stay long. They said something or other to the Rangers and to Del, then they turned and left the café. Will sighed with relief as they left. It was as if a strange burden had been lifted from his heart.

Del came back over to the counter, handing his notepad to Will, giving him the Rangers' orders. He was about to go back to their table to talk with them when Will stopped him.

"Del," he said, trying to sound casual. "Who were those two teenagers who just left? I've never seen them before."

"Oh, that was Angela and Jorge," he said. "They go to my high school. Angela is Peg's adopted sister. They've been in here before."

"They have?" Will was a bit taken aback. He'd never noticed them before. Del nodded. "Guess I didn't notice." Will forced a small laugh. "Shows how much I pay attention." Del laughed as well, but he couldn't help but notice a strange tension in his boss' voice. There was a short silence between the two, but at last Will spoke again. "Go ahead and go back to the table, if you want," he said. "I'll bring these orders over when I'm done making them." The boy nodded again and obeyed.

By the time Will had made their drinks and stacked them on a tray, Sean had arrived, bringing Marie with him. Will smiled, glad that now the White Ranger didn't have to keep his sister a secret from everyone anymore. He brought the tray over to the table and handed drinks out to them, including Sean and Marie. Dan had ordered for them, knowing pretty much what they would want. After taking the tray back to the counter, Will went back to the table and pulled a chair over, setting it at the edge and sitting on it backwards, facing them.

He smiled and listened to them talk, glad that for a while they could be happy like normal teens. He knew how hard things were for Power Rangers, and he was glad that they could get a bit of a break from the Chaos Three for a while at least.

After a while, conversation died down a bit. At last, Beth turned to Will and looked at him questioningly.

"Will, I've been wondering," she began. "How do you know so much about our powers and the Chaos Three? I mean, like, how did you find out about all that?"

Dan nodded. "Yeah, I've been wondering that as well," he agreed. All eyes turned to Will, waiting expectantly. He hesitated, then sighed, deciding he might as well tell them.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," he said. "I'll have to go way back to the history of Trienith." He took a deep breath before speaking again. "Long ago, when Trienith was first created, there were sorcerers both good and evil. The good sorcerers created the Elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Thunder. But, there was one evil sorcerer who wished to bring conflict into the world, so, in secret, he began creating the Dark Elements. By the time he was found out and stopped, he had already succeeded in creating Dark Fire, Dark Water, and Dark Thunder. So, now, there were three Dark Elements against five good Elements, which became known as the Light Elements. The sorcerer purposely gave his Dark Elements great power beyond what their Light counterparts could ever have. Knowing that there would be horrible battles and conflicts ahead, the Light Elements chose humans on Trienith to give their powers to, much like what happened here on Earth. To combat this, the Dark Elements did the same thing, choosing those they knew would be evil enough to give their powers too. One thing I should mention, there are no Dark Elements on Earth, just on Trienith.

"Anyways, in this generation, the Dark Elements chose three people on Trienith they knew would be evil enough: Pyric, Raine, and Oscuro. You know them as Stephen, Erica, and Rufus: The Chaos Three." He smiled at the strange looks and murmurs of confusion he got from his audience before he continued. "Yes, they have different names on Trienith. When they came to Earth, they chose more Earth-like names so they could blend in easier." He took another breath before continuing, hesitating slightly.

"In this generation, the Light Elements chose five people they knew would be good enough. One of the Elements, the Element of Light Fire, chose me." He looked away and paused.

"What?" Tiz asked, looking at him in disbelief. "You mean, you're from Trienith?" Will nodded and continued.

"Yes, I am. On Trienith, I was known as Adus. I changed my name to Will when I came here, though, so that I had a more normal name. I led the team of Rangers on Trienith, and we battle the Chaos Three same as you do."

"Wait," Peg said, interrupting him. "So, you're a Ranger? Where's the rest of your team?"

Will cringed painfully. "In our last battle with the Chaos Three…they were…" He paused, struggling to get the words out. "Destroyed," he whispered at last. He closed his eyes, blocking the looks of astonishment and pity he was getting from the Rangers and Del. Before they had a chance to say anything, though, he continued again. "Yes, they were destroyed. I was the only one who survived, and I used the last of my strength to defeat the Chaos Three. My team: Feanaro as the Blue Ranger, Alassea as the White Ranger, Cirin as the Green Ranger, and…" he had to force the last name out, "the Yellow Ranger…Anaia. All of them were destroyed.

"When the Chaos Three came to Earth, I knew I had to follow them to prevent them from causing the same problems here they tried to cause on Trienith. I also knew that I probably wouldn't be able to use my power or morph here, but I could find the chosen ones of the Elements and guide them to being Rangers, and that's what I have done with you guys." At last, he ended, and he sighed, looking away. Silence filled the table as the Rangers stared at him in awe. Finally Sean spoke up.

"Have you tried using your power here?" he said, asking the first question that came to mind. Will shook his head.

"I don't dare try unless I had no other choice. If I tried to morph and it didn't work," he glanced at his morpher on his wrist, "it would explode and destroy me."

Erica came out of her room, a cheerful smile on her face. Not even looking at Rufus, who was still leaning over the telescope, she went over to the door to Stephen's room, knocking on it loudly. He opened it and looked at her expectantly, a bit of annoyance in his face.

"Well?" he asked. "Did you come up with something good?"

"Yep," Erica answered, a triumphant tone in her voice. "This one's really great. I promise."

"You'd better be right this time, Erica," he said. "We need this monster to be strong enough for once." The two of them went to the center of the room, and Rufus silently came up with them. Forming the circle, they each concentrated hard. Soon, in a glow of Red, Blue, and Yellow, a monster appeared in front of them, locked in their circle. It was green and rather scaly. It had a large, fiery horn on the tip of its protruding snout, and its eyes glowed blue. Immense, golden wings stuck out of its back, shining in the dimly lighted room. There were long, jagged claws on its three-fingered hands, and it carried a thick blue lance.

Stephen looked impressed. "Well, you've really outdone yourself this time, Erica," he said, causing the girl to beam with pride. "Now, Rufus, send it down to the front of the café along with a team of Crodus."

The boy nodded and looked at the monster, thinking for a moment. "Hmm… Your name shall be Rigonath. Go, Crodus!" As soon as he had said both names, the monster disappeared. Glancing through the telescope, Stephen saw it appear with a group of Crodus in front of the café.

"Should we go down now?" Erica asked.

"No," he answered, not taking his eyes from the telescope. "We must wait for the opportune moment to strike."

The teens were now full of questions for Will, and they longed to know more about his life as a Trienith Ranger. But, before they had a chance to ask anything, an earsplitting crash was heard outside. All eight people rushed out to see what had happened. They saw, to their horror, a massive, dragon-like creature slamming a lance into a telephone poll, knocking it over and pulling the wires down with it. A swarm of Crodus surrounded him, and as the humans came outside, both monster and foot soldier turned to them.

Dan looked around at his team. "Ready guys?" he asked. Before they could respond, Marie hugged Sean and, in a small, frightened voice, wished the Rangers luck.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

With that, the five of them morphed and ran forward to attack. Peg and Beth started in on the Crodus while the boys went after Rigonath. Beth kicked a Crodu away from her and hit another on the side with her arm. As one came up from behind her, she elbowed it in the face, then kicked backwards, getting it straight in the chest.

Near her, Peg did a roundhouse kick into the abdomen of a Crodu, making it fall backwards. As another came over, she kicked it in the knee, and it fell forward on its face. She jumped on it and vaulted into another Crodu, catching its head between her legs. She twisted sideways in the air and caused the Crodu to flip with her. They both fell to the ground, but only Peg was unhurt. She stood up and grinned from under her helmet, kicking the motionless body of the Crodu once more.

Sean and Tiz attacked the monster at the same time, running forward and kicking him in unison. It stumbled backwards a few steps, but soon he recovered and slashed them across the sides with his lance. The two flew backwards, sparks flying from their suits. Dan rushed in to help, pulling out his sword, which seemed undersized in comparison to Rigonath's lance. Nevertheless, Dan swiped the sword across Rigonath's chest, sending sparks flying off of him. Sean and Tiz, who had now gotten up, came from the sides and grabbed his scaly arms. They threw him back as hard as they could, and he went backwards for some yards before falling over. While waiting for him to recover, the boys began fighting Crodus as well.

Sean called out his bow and began shooting arrows at the Crodus as fast as he could, taking out many of them. Then, he was attacked by one from behind and he fell forward in pain. Seeing this, Beth pulled out her daggers and slashed the Crodu that had attacked Sean, causing sparks to come off of its body. Then, she kicked it away and helped Sean stand up.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern in her voice. He nodded, and the two of them rushed back into the battle.

Soon, all the Crodus were defeated and they disappeared in a flash of yellow light. But, by this time, Rigonath had recovered. He ran over to each Ranger with incredible speed and slashed them with his lance, causing them to fall over with sparks going off all over their suits. They got up painfully and attacked again, each using their weapons to fight.

After some time, Dan finally decided they needed to combine their weapons.

"Guys!" he cried. "Let's put them together!" The others nodded and complied, forming their joint weapon. Dan held it and pointed it at Rigonath, who looked at them fearfully.

"Ready, aim, fire!" With that, Dan fired the weapon, which sent a powerful blast at Rigonath, destroying him instantly.

The five Rangers powered down, panting with exhaustion from their battle.

"That was quite a fight, wasn't it?" Tiz said, smiling a little. The others nodded and headed back towards the café.

"Should we go down Inow/I?" Erica asked, looking at Stephen impatiently.

"Yes," he responded. "It's time. The Rangers are exhausted from their fight. Now, we just need to give them a little more punishment. They're too tired to fight back now, and we should easily be able to defeat them, or at least capture them." He looked at Rufus expectantly and nodded.

"Alright," the younger boy said. "Let's go, Erica and Stephen." As he said their names, the three of them teleported down to the café.

Before the Rangers got to their destination, they heard a noise behind them. Turning to look, they saw to their annoyance the Chaos Three standing there, grinning at them. Dan stepped forward.

"What do you guys want?" he asked, glaring at Stephen especially. He had not forgotten the time he had made him think his powers were out of control.

"Let's see," Erica said in a mock thoughtful voice. "To destroy you?" She glared at Peg, remembering their fight still.

"Go ahead and try it," Tiz said, letting sparks of electricity hover around his hand, grinning at Rufus. "I beat you once, and I can do it again."

"Yes, you've beaten him once," Stephen said. "And your Blue Ranger has beaten Erica. But, can you handle all three of us at the same time?" With that, he, Erica, and Rufus each prepared for a strong attack. Stephen shot out a blast of Dark Fire towards the Rangers. Erica sent a stream of Dark Water next to it, and Rufus surrounded both Fire and Water with his Dark Thunder. The blast of Elements hit the Rangers head on, causing a massive explosion. When the dust cleared, the five Rangers had collapsed on the ground and were now unconscious.

"Perfect," Stephen said with a grin. Rufus made some Crodus appear, and they grabbed the Rangers. Then, he teleported all of them back to the tower.

Will stared out of the window in shock. He had only seen the Chaos Three use a joint attack like that once, and he had never wanted to see it again. That was the very attack they used which had destroyed his team before. How was it possible that these Rangers had survived? He didn't know, but he decided that that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that the Rangers had been captured by the Chaos Three.

Next to him, Marie had run into Del's arms, crying for her brother and his friends. The boy picked her up and held her, a look of worry mixed with shock on his face. He turned to Will.

"Now what are we going to do?" he asked. "We have to save them somehow."

Will shook his head. "I don't know," he said softly. He looked at his morpher on his wrist, thinking back on all the times he had used it in the past. It had always been there to help him in the past, and now he couldn't use it. Or could he? There was a chance it might still work here, but it was a small chance, and Will wasn't entirely sure it would.

"I…I could try to use my morpher," he whispered, more thinking out loud than talking to Del. The boy perked up.

"You're right!" he exclaimed. "If you could morph, you could help them, right?"

Will nodded slowly, but hesitated. "But, it might not work. Chances are it won't work here and it will destroy me…" His voice trailed off as he kept his eyes on his morpher.

Del gently set Marie down on a chair and went over to Will. He laid a hand on his shoulder and looked at him sternly.

"Isn't that a risk you'll have to take? You can't just let the Chaos Three destroy this team like they did to yours…"

Will looked at him with tears shining in his eyes. "It…it's too risky…" His voice was full of doubt, but a part of him realized that he would have to try.

"Please, Will?" Del's expression turned from stern to pleading. "You can't just…" He looked at Marie, who was still crying. Will turned to her as well. He sighed and took a deep breath.

"You're right," he said. "I have to try. I won't let my new team suffer the same fate as my old one." He began walking outside, and Del started to follow him. Will shook his head. "No," he said. "You stay in here. If it doesn't work, my morpher will explode. I don't want it to destroy you like it will me if that happens." Del nodded and gave Will an encouraging smile.

"Good luck," he said softly. Will forced a smile and turned around, making his way outside. Once he was far enough away from the café, he glanced at his morpher.

"Don't fail me now," he whispered to it, not caring that it was an inanimate object and it couldn't hear him. Sighing, he prepared to morph the way he had so many times in the past.

"Element, Light Fire!"

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!

lil Cwick-Glad you thought it was cute lol

Girl of Many Faces-I'm glad you're hooked on Power Rangers fics now! Aren't they so awesome? lol

juzblue-Glad you liked it


	9. Light the Fire Again part 2

A/N: Sorry this episode took so long, guys. I was busy this week and weekend, so I didn't have much time to work on it. Plus, I was kind of uninspired for a while, so I had to find my inspiration again.

Anyways, without further ado, I give you the second part of our very second ever two part episode, Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 9. Enjoy!

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Episode 9: Light the Fire Again part 2

"Element, Light Fire!"

As Will said those words, his body was engulfed in bright red flame that covered him from head to toe. When the fire cleared, it was no longer just Will standing there but the Trienith Red Ranger. His suit was similar to Dan's, except that the symbol of fire on his chest was surrounded by a white, glittery glow, and there were black, spike-like protrusions on the sides of his arms right under his elbows and on the sides of his legs right under his knees.

Will looked himself up and down through the visor on his helmet, remembering for what seemed like the first time in ages what his suit looked like. He staggered back a bit, feeling overwhelmed from the rush of power and memories that flooded him as he morphed. He felt the power rushing through his veins; the power that had once been so familiar to him now felt so strange and alien. The memories filled his head; memories of morphing and battles past, memories of his friends and team mates, memories of Anaia…

He shook those thoughts away. He had to focus now on his current mission. The new team of Rangers was in trouble, and Will had to do what he could to save them. Turning back to the café, he saw Del staring out at him through the window, a look of awe on his face. The boy remained motionless for a second, seeming unsure somehow. Then, his expression changed to a reassuring smile and he waved to Will. The Trienith Red Ranger just nodded to him and started walking towards the café.

Del came running out to greet him. He gazed at Will's costume, giving the Ranger a once over. He didn't know what he had expected to see if and when Will morphed, but somehow, this wasn't it. He had half expected his suit to look identical to Dan's, but it seemed entirely different, which was a surprise to Del. After recovering from the initial shock of seeing his boss morph, he smiled at him.

"Wow," he breathed. "That was awesome! When your body caught on fire like that, I thought for sure you were a goner, and that the morpher wasn't going to work here, but obviously, I was wrong." He grinned and raised his eyebrows. "So, what does it feel like to be morphed again?"

Will paused for a moment, trying to find his voice. He felt almost as if he couldn't speak right now; he was so overwhelmed with the feeling of power. It still seemed so strange to him.

"It's…an amazing feeling," he said at last. He decided to say nothing more than that. It would be impossible to try to describe what it was like to be morphed. It was just something one had to experience for themselves, or they would never understand it. "But, there's no time to talk about that right now," he continued, his voice taking on a firm and serious tone. "We have to find out where the Chaos Three took the Rangers."

Del nodded. "How are we going to do that?"

Will held up his left hand where his morpher rested. "We can use this," he said. "Each of the morphers has a tracking device in it. It's something I added a while ago, before I ever found the Rangers. I figured it would come in handy sometime." He smiled grimly from under his helmet. "Come on." With that, he headed back into the café, Del following close behind him.

The two of them went into the back room of the café after Will closed and locked the front door. They left Marie sitting at the Ranger's usual table. She had stopped crying now, but worry still showed in her small eyes.

Once in the back room, Will went over to a computer and sat down at it. "With this, we can track the Rangers' location."

"Okay," Del said with a nod. The look of worry that he had worn on his face before had disappeared. He no longer worried about what would happen to the Rangers. Del had faith that Will would save them, no matter what.

Stephen gazed at his captives, a triumphant grin on his face. He had done it. Finally, he had done it. He had captured the Rangers, and he now held them at his mercy. They were lying before him in the main room of the tower, each one bound individually, each one still unconscious. Stephen could hardly believe the sight before him. Although he was not from Earth, he had heard much about past Rangers there. No villain had ever succeeded in defeating a team of Power Rangers, he knew. But, now, for the first time in history, a villain had, Stephen thought. And that villain was him. Well, technically, he thought, it was him, Erica, and Rufus, but still, to be included in the first team in history to defeat a Ranger team was an amazing honor.

And he had defeated them, right? Of course he had, he told himself. After all, they now lay only a few feet ahead of him, right within his grasp, totally helpless and unable to escape. Who could possibly save them now? No one. And of course, they were completely incapable of saving themselves at this point.

He grinned at the motionless forms of Dan, Peg, Sean, Beth, and Tiz and thought about how easy it had been. It almost seemed too easy, but Stephen refused to think of it that way. The fact was, he had come up with a plan that had enabled him to capture the Rangers, and nothing could spoil this moment now.

Turning to his companions, he saw them staring at the Rangers with the same expressions, mixed with triumphant and awe-struck looks. Erica, sensing Stephen's eyes on her, turned to glance at him. She smiled.

"We did it," she said, a tone of disbelief in her voice. "We actually did it. It seems almost too good to be true."

"No," Stephen said, glaring at her. "Don't say that. It's not too good to be true. It is true. We have done it. We've captured the Rangers. And now, nothing can stop us from destroying them. And once we've destroyed the ones the Elements chose, we will have destroyed the Elements themselves. Then, the Dark Elements will take over, and the Chaos Three will rule the world!" He gave an evil laugh and grinned again.

Rufus stared into the faces of the Rangers in turn. First, he saw Dan. He smiled at the thought that he had captured him once before. He was the leader of the team, but Rufus had once captured him so easily.

Next, he looked at Peg. He glared especially at her, a loathing still in his heart for what she had done to Erica. Even after they destroyed the Rangers, Rufus knew he would never be able to forgive her for that.

Then, he saw Sean and Beth. Having nothing particular against them except for the fact that they were Rangers, he passed over them quickly, only thinking one thought about them; the fact that they were in love. It made him smile, thinking it was rather cute, but also unimportant now.

Finally, his eyes rested on Tiz, and a resentment and anger overcame him. The Yellow Ranger was the only one strong enough and with the right power to defeat him once in battle, and he hated him more than any of the other Rangers. Rufus planned to ask Stephen if he could destroy Tiz personally when the time came.

Will looked up at the high, seemingly abandoned tower with a grim look on his face. He sighed. This was where he had tracked the Rangers to, so this must be where the Chaos Three were holding them. He wondered if this was their main hideout or if it was just some random place they chose, but he supposed that didn't matter right now. What was important now was getting in there and finding the Rangers.

He entered through a small, rickety door that stood towards the center of the eight storied building. Looking around the dark, musty room on the first floor, he realized that he wouldn't be able to see anything in this light. Holding his still morphed hand palm upwards in front of him, he formed a ball of fire that was bright enough to light up the area around him quite nicely. Grinning from under his helmet, he shone the light ahead of him, searching for the stairs that would lead him to a higher floor. Although he wasn't certain, he had a strong feeling that he would find the Chaos Three on the top floor of the building.

At last, he saw a staircase off to one corner of the room. It spiraled around, leading upwards into darkness. Will noticed that it was covered in dust and cobwebs and it appeared as if it hadn't been used in years. He didn't wonder why, knowing that the Chaos Three teleported almost everywhere they went. If this tower was indeed their hideout, they would teleport in and out of it rather than walking. For one thing, it was easier, but the main reason they probably did that was to keep people from seeing them enter and exit the building so that no one knew they were there. Will couldn't help thinking how clever that was of them, but he shook the thought away and started to climb the stairs, still shining the fire in his palm ahead of him.

It seemed to take forever to get to the top floor through the cold darkness of the staircase, but at last, he made it. There was a door in front of him a few feet after the top stair. It was closed, and it seemed ominous somehow. He wondered if it was locked. Not that it would matter if it was, he thought, tossing the fireball in his hand up and down. He would have other means of entering if that was the case. Walking forward slowly and silently, he twisted the knob of the door, which turned just fine, meaning it was unlocked. Will could tell by looking that the door opened outwards towards him, and he could see light inside the room it lead too, which meant that he didn't need his fireball anymore. Forming a fist in his left hand, the fire dissipated and went out.

At last, after only a moment's hesitation to gather himself, Will threw the door open and sprang into the room. What he saw made him start a bit with surprise, although he didn't know why. He should have expected to see the Rangers tied up in a row on the floor with the Chaos Three standing close by, and that was exactly the scene that lay before him. As soon as he entered, Stephen, Erica, and Rufus turned to him, looks of surprise and alarm in their faces. At first, no one spoke. Will was silent because he was waiting for his enemies to make the first move. The Chaos Three were silent because they were in shock. The Trienith Red Ranger now stood before them. How was this possible? How could Will use his powers here?

At last, Stephen stepped forward and glared at the Ranger before him. "So, Will, you decided to use your powers again, eh?" He smirked at him, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "It won't do you any good, though. Dark Fire will always be more powerful than Light Fire."

"We'll just see about that, Stephen." With that, Will shot a fireball at his opponent. His fire looked like normal fire except for a bright, white glow that surrounded it. Stephen dodged the blast and sent his own at Will. The Dark Fire was a deeper red and it had a black aura-like glow around it. Will flipped sideways out of the path of the blast and immediately shot another one of his own at Stephen. This one hit him head on, causing him to stumble backwards. He glared at Will and his eyes began to glow with a fire similar to his own. He ran forward and threw a punch at Will, connecting with his helmet. The Ranger clutched his cheek where Stephen's fist had hit for a moment before aiming a kick at him. Stephen blocked the kick with his hand, grabbing Will's foot and spinning him around. Will fell over backwards, but he immediately got up again.

Erica and Rufus stood to the side, watching the battle. They exchanged helpless glances, not knowing what to do. A part of them wanted to help Stephen, but the rest of them knew that he would want to be the one to destroy Will. So, they just continued to watch helplessly, saying nothing, internally rooting for their leader.

As Will got up, he called upon his sword, which was almost exactly the same as Dan's. The only difference was a white border around the edges of it. He slashed the sword at Stephen, getting him straight across the chest. Stephen howled in pain and keeled over, panting a little.

He recovered quickly, though, and he pulled out a sword of his own. It was a deep, crimson red color with jagged edges on the blade. Grinning at his opponent, he lunged forward, trying to hit Will with the sword. Will blocked the attack with his own, though, and the two swords met in between them. Both Will and Stephen used as much of their strength as they could, pushing forward, trying to make the other fall. At last, Will succeeded and he sent Stephen falling backwards.

Rufus gasped as he saw this. Was Stephen actually losing? How was this possible? He glared at Will, hatred bubbling in his heart. He had ruined their victory, and now it seemed that he was going to defeat their leader. Rufus gave Stephen a questioning look, as if silently asking if he could help. Stephen scowled and shook his head, though, as he forced himself to his feet. Glancing over at the window behind Will, the leader of the Chaos Three suddenly had an idea.

Smirking, he ran straight forward at Will, hitting him in the chest with his head and shoulders. He kept running until the two of them crashed through the window and began falling to the ground below. Rufus let out a cry and ran to the broken window, wondering what his leader could have been thinking. Stephen twisted in the air and looked up at him.

"Rufus! Now!" he cried. Understanding, Rufus nodded.

"Alright, Stephen!" he said loudly. As he said his name, Stephen teleported to the ground right at the foot of the tower. Will was still falling towards him, seemingly helplessly. But, the Trienith Red Ranger had an idea. He turned his body so that he was lying face first parallel to the ground. Thrusting his hands forward, he sent a powerful beam of fire towards the earth. As it hit, it caused Will to slow down in falling, slowing more and more as he neared the ground. At last, when he was only a few feet above the earth, he twisted into a standing position and landed gently on his feet, unharmed.

He grinned at Stephen from under his helmet. "Nice try, Pyric," he said. "But, you can't beat me that easily. In fact, you obviously can't beat me at all, if I remember correctly what happened on Trienith."

Stephen gazed at his enemy in awe. How had he done that? It was impossible, wasn't it? At hearing his Trienith name, Stephen's thoughts were interrupted. It had been so long since anyone had called him that. It had a strange effect on him, and he began to feel sick to his stomach. Trying to ignore that, he put a defiant look on his face and turned back to Will.

Still watching from the top floor of the tower, Erica and Rufus looked at each other silently and nodded.

"We should go down there, Erica," Rufus said. With that, the two of them disappeared and reappeared on the ground below, not too far from Will and Stephen. They didn't know what they would do there, but the prepared themselves for anything as they watched the two enemies face each other.

"Well, Adus," Stephen said, using his enemy's Trienith name. "I may not have defeated you, but I sure defeated your team easily enough." Although he could not see Will's expression, he knew that his words had hit home. He grinned before continuing. "They were weaklings, and they needed their leader to carry them. They needed you to save them. But, you didn't, did you, William? You let them be defeated. All of them. Feanaro, Alassea, Cirin…" He paused for effect before saying the last name. "And Anaia."

Will felt his heart skip a beat as Stephen said the last name. A single tear rolled down his cheek and he closed his eyes tightly. He was glad that he had his helmet on so Stephen could not see his expression, or that he was crying. Taking a deep breath, Will focused on turning his sadness into anger. He formed his hand into a fist and glared at Stephen from under his helmet.

"You'll pay for what you did to them, and to Anaia," he said between clenched teeth. He gripped his sword in his hand and rushed forward, preparing to strike Stephen.

Back up in the tower, Dan groaned and opened his eyes slowly. His head ached immensely, and his body felt sore all over. What in the world had happened to him? Looking around, he saw that he was lying on the floor in an entirely unfamiliar place. What was he doing here? How did he get here? Moving his hands, he realized that they were tied together in front of him. He started, and looked at his bound hands in confusion. He saw that his legs were tied as well. His mind began to race as he tried to remember what had happened…

And then, it hit him. The Chaos Three, they had attacked them all at once. The blast had been extremely powerful, and it had hit them head on when they were already exhausted from their battle. Dan shuddered at the memory of the searing pain he had felt as the blast had hit.

Turning to his side, he saw that Peg lay right next to him, tied up as well, still asleep. In her unconscious state, Dan noticed that she looked very peaceful and serene, and he couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was…

But, there was no time to think of that now. Dan didn't know where the Chaos Three were, but he had a feeling they were probably around somewhere, and he didn't especially want to be tied up when they came back from where ever they were. But, how was he going to get untied?

Then, it came to him. He lifted his hands up out in front of him and set them on fire, burning through the ropes. Once his hands were free, he struggled to sit up, then he shot a bit of fire at the ropes around his ankles, burning them enough so that he could pull them off. Next, he sat up on his knees and leaned over the Blue Ranger, gently shaking her.

"Peggy, wake up," he said in a soft voice. Soon, she groaned and opened her eyes as well, looking up into his. Her expression immediately changed from peaceful to confused as her eyes moved down to the ropes on her hands and ankles.

"Dan, what happened? Where are we?" Her voice sounded loud and harsh in the previously silent room.

Dan shushed her gently as he began to untie her hands. "It's okay," he said. "We were captured by the Chaos Three, but they don't seem to be around right now." He finished untying her arms and moved down to her legs. "We need to get out of here before they get back." Once Peg was completely untied, Dan moved over to Sean, who had been lying next to her. He shook the White Ranger and called to him.

"Sean! Wake up, man," he said. "Come on." At last, Sean awoke with a start. He looked at Dan, panting a little, his heart pounding in his chest.

"What happened?" he asked as Dan began to untie him.

The Red Ranger shook his head. "I'll tell you when we get the others up. I don't really want to explain it 3 more times." He laughed grimly as he finished with Sean and moved on to Beth. The White Ranger turned towards the unconscious form of Beth and a concerned look came over his face. He gently placed his hand on her forehead.

"Hey, wake up, Bethy," he said softly, sitting up and leaning over her as Dan untied her. Beth murmured something inaudible as she opened her eyes and looked at him. A smile formed on her lips as she saw him, but it soon faded as she remembered what had happened. By now, she was untied, so she sat up and looked around.

"I can't believe they had such power…" she breathed after a moment of thought

"I know," Sean agreed, standing up and helping Beth up as well. The memory of what had happened had come back to him now.

"We were no match for them," Tiz said, yawning afterwards. Dan had just woken him up and was now untying him.

"That's because they attacked after 'softening us up' first," Dan said grimly. "First, they gave us a bunch of Crodus and a monster to fight. Then, they came after us themselves when we were weak and tired from our fight. It was a brilliant strategy." He sighed, wondering just how many other brilliant strategies his enemies would come up with. There was a moment's silence in the room.

"Uh, guys?" Peg sounded confused and worried at the same time as she looked down out of the broken window. She pointed. "You might want to see this."

The Rangers crowded over to her side and looked down as well. What they saw surprised and bewildered them to no end. Stephen was down there fighting with a Red Ranger. His suit was similar to Dan's but it had some differences. The Rangers watched silently for a moment, not sure what to do. At last, Tiz spoke.

"Who the heck is that?" he asked to no one in particular.

"I don't know," Dan said. "But he looks like he could use some help. Come on, guys!" He started running towards the open door to the staircase, motioning for the others to follow, which they did. The five of them headed down the stairs as quickly as they could, wondering who this mystery Ranger could be.

Stephen used his sword to block the attack from Will, overpowering him and pushing him backwards. Will stumbled a bit, but he soon recovered and slashed at Stephen again, hitting him across the arm.

Suddenly, as he waited for him to strike back, Will heard the familiar voices of the Rangers as they came outside. He turned to look at them and saw that they had confused expressions on their faces. He realized that they probably didn't know who he was, even though they knew he was a Ranger.

"Guys, it's me!" he called to them. They were silent for a moment, but at last Beth spoke.

"Will?" she asked. He nodded, but before he could say anything else, he was attacked by Stephen in his distraction.

Dan glanced at his team. "Come on guys!" he cried. "Will needs our help!" They nodded in agreement and prepared to morph.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

The now morphed Rangers were about to rush in and help Will, but they were cut off by the menacing forms of Erica and Rufus stepping in between them.

"Let the boys have their fun," Erica said with a smirk. "Rufus and I are more than good enough for you!" With that, she pulled a long, dark blue staff seemingly out of nowhere and ran straight towards Peg, hitting her hard in the side. Peg cried out in pain and called upon her weapon.

"Blue Water Trident!"

Her trident appeared in her hands as she began battling with Erica. Beth stayed to help her while the boys went after Rufus. The other Rangers called on their weapons as well.

"Red Fire Sword!"

"Green Earth Daggers!"

"White Wind Bow!"

"Yellow Thunder Sai!"

Each Ranger acquired their respective weapons and began to fight. Beth and Peg ran in together and tried to slash Erica with their weapons, but she was able to block it easily with her staff and send her enemies flying backwards. She went over to Peg, who was now on the ground, and jabbed her in the stomach with her staff. The Blue Ranger clutched her stomach painfully, knowing that there would be a bruise there later. Erica prepared to shoot Dark Water at Peg, but Beth came up from behind her and kicked her, causing her fall over forwards onto the Blue Ranger, who quickly shoved her off. Beth helped Peg up and they waited for Erica to get up as well.

Rufus was having an easier time with the boys. Instead of using a weapon, he used his powers to fight, shooting them left and right with his electricity. Dan and Sean couldn't get near him because of the strong electrical currents he was letting out. Tiz moved in and thrust his sai at him, hitting him hard in the back. He howled in pain and turned around, shooting a thunder bolt at the Yellow Ranger, who dodged it easily and shot a bolt of his own. While his back was turned, Dan ran forward and slashed him with his sword in the same spot that Tiz had hit, knowing that it would be weaker now. Rufus winced and shuddered in pain, stumbling forward a bit. He turned towards Dan and shot a strong bolt of electricity at him, hitting him head on and making him fall over, grabbing his stomach where it hit.

Suddenly, Rufus felt a burst of energy hit him. He turned to see Sean holding his bow, another arrow on the string. He let the arrow fly at his enemy, then he shot others at him as well. Sparks flew off of Rufus' body as he was hit numerous times with Sean's arrows. At last, he collapsed to the ground and lay still.

Meanwhile, Will and Stephen were continuing to fight. After a while, Stephen held out a hand, signaling Will to stop. The Trienith Red Ranger paused, but he didn't let his guard down for a moment.

"Let's settle this," Stephen said. "We'll see which is stronger: Light Fire or Dark Fire. Demorph and we'll fight using only our Elements. That way, we'll know forever who is the strongest. Deal?"

Will thought for a moment and nodded, demorphing. "Alright," he said. "We'll do what Peg and Erica did. On three, we each shoot out our strongest blast of our Element and we'll see which one is stronger, agreed?"

"Agreed." Stephen smirked confidently at his enemy, feeling certain that he would win. As they prepared to face off, the other Rangers and members of the Chaos Three stopped their battles and gathered around to watch. The Rangers demorphed as well, looking worried, hoping that Will would be able to defeat Stephen.

"Ready?" Will asked. Without waiting for a response, he began to count down. "1…2…3!" When he said three, the two of them each sent out a huge burst of fire. Will's fire was a normal red color but it had a distinct white glow around it, shining in the sunlight. Stephen's fire was a deeper, crimson color and it had a deep black aura around it, making it look dark and menacing. Their blasts hit in the center between them, forcing on each other for a moment. Then, the Light Fire burst forward, shooting through the Dark Fire and hitting Stephen directly. The leader of the Chaos Three flew backwards in a flurry of fire and sparks, hitting up against a nearby tree. He stood there for a second, a look of pain and defeat in his face, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell forward, unconscious.

About half an hour later, the Rangers were back in the café, sitting around their table, all eyes on Will, who sat on a chair at one end. Marie was in her brother's lap, and he had an arm around her. She had been so happy to see him when he walked in that she had started crying again. She was calmer now, and there was a solemn silence in the room. At last, Tiz spoke.

"That was absolutely amazing, Will," he said. "I can't believe the power you have."

"I know," Beth agreed. "It was so awesome."

Will nodded. "Thanks. It feels great to have my powers again."

Dan gave him a serious look. "I guess we have a new leader for our team, right?"

Will looked at him and sighed. "I guess so," he said. "That is, if you guys will have me as your leader."

"Of course we will," Peg said, grinning at him. "Right guys?" The other Rangers each said their agreements and nodded.

Will smiled. It was great to be a leader again. He vowed at that moment that he would not allow his new team to suffer the same fate his other team had.

Erica and Rufus exchanged worried glances as they leaned over the unconscious form of Stephen. They had teleported inside with him and had lain him in his bed. That blast from Will had been extremely powerful, and they didn't know if Stephen could handle it.

"I hope he wakes up soon," Erica whispered, her voice thick with worry. "We need him. We can't do this without him."

"I know," Rufus agreed with a sigh. "I'm sure he'll be fine, though. He made it last time, and he can do it again. We just have to wait and be patient."

"But, I'm not patient," Erica said, chuckling nervously.

"Neither am I, but we're going to have to be now." Getting up, he motioned for Erica to follow him. "Come on," he said. "We should leave him to rest."

The girl nodded, and the two of them left the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!

Sexi Silver: Don't worry! I could never kill Will! The person on Ranger-Power he's based on would never forgive me! lol I hope this episode will fullfill your "dose" lol

Wearer of the Black Hat: I purposely don't have Zords because I hate writing Zord battles and I think they're kind of boring to read. That's just me, though. So, they'll never get Zords. As for evil Rangers, you'll just have to wait and see. I have plans... And who is Becca? I never had a character with that name in this fic that I remember... Also, as you can see in this episode, yes, they can use their powers when they're morphed. That's just how I did it. No particular reason. I'm glad you like it, though!

lil Cwick: Isn't action great? Glad you like it!

juzblue: Isn't Will awesome? And, you'll see about the thing with Angela and Jorge. I have plans...


	10. Fight Fire With Water

A/N: Sorry this episode took so long, guys. I had the world's worst writer's block, and I was losing my inspiration. This episode isn't that great, but I promise that the next one will be better.

Without further ado, I give you, Power Rangers Element Storm Episode 10. Enjoy!

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Episode 10: Fight Fire With Water

Erica sighed. It had been two days since the battle between Will and Stephen, and the latter had still not woken up. He lay in his room in an unconscious state, sometimes lying still and peaceful, other times mumbling and sweating in his sleep. Once, he even shot a bit of Dark Fire out at the wall, but luckily Erica was able to use her Dark Water to put it out. She and Rufus didn't know what to do. They had tried waking Stephen up, but he was entirely unresponsive to their efforts.

Now, they felt that they had to do something to fight against the Power Rangers. They couldn't just do nothing in Stephen's somewhat absence, but they weren't sure what to do. He had always been the one who came up with the plans, and the younger two relied on him in that sense. Could they somehow come up with a plan themselves that would work? They didn't know, but they felt they had to try.

Rufus looked over at Erica as she sighed. He had been gazing through the telescope while she stood not facing him, staring at the wall, lost in thought. Stepping away from the telescope, Rufus went over to the girl and laid a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Erica," he said with a gentle tone in his voice. "Stephen will wake up soon, and all will be fine."

She looked at him, a bit surprised at his actions. Recovering, she spoke as well. "I'm sure he will," she said softly. "But what are we going to do in the mean time? We have to do something or he'll be mad at us when he wakes up."

Rufus' expression turned grim. "I know," he said. "We have to do something." He thought for a moment. "Erica, do you think you could come up with a monster we could send down? I'm sure the two of us could create it on our own, if we tried hard enough."

Erica nodded. "That's a good idea," she said. "At least then we're doing something so Stephen will see that we weren't totally helpless while he was out of it. I'm sure I can think of something good enough." She turned and went into her room, closing the door behind her.

Rufus smiled as she left, knowing that she would have a good monster for them in no time. Walking over to Stephen's room, he opened the door quietly and looked at the sleeping form of his leader, his expression changing to one of solemn respect. He couldn't believe that he had been defeated by Will so easily. Was Light Fire really that much stronger than Dark Fire? The Dark Elements were supposed to be stronger than the Light ones, right? Then why had all three of them been defeated by their Ranger counterparts? Shaking his head sadly, Rufus left the room and went back to the telescope.

The Rangers sat at their table in the café, accompanied by Marie, who was sitting in Sean's lap, Angela and Jorge, who had pulled another table over and were sitting next to them, and Del, who was not working today because Beth was. The eight of them were talking and laughing, having fun and enjoying each other's company.

Dan, Peg, Sean, and Tiz were secretly feeling extremely relieved right now. With Will as a Ranger and their leader, they felt that things were going to be easier for them in the future. To Dan, it felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, because now he wasn't the only leader and he didn't feel so responsible for the team and for making decisions.

It was hard to believe that two days had already gone by since they had been captured by the Chaos Three and saved by the Trienith Red Ranger. Although, now that Dan thought about it, the two days had seemed to go by rather slowly, since there had been no battles with the Chaos Three since then. He could only guess that Stephen had not recovered yet from Will's last attack, and perhaps the other two could not think of what to do in his absence. Whatever the reason was, the Rangers were enjoying the bit of a break they were getting, even though it was sure to be only short lived.

Will stood behind the counter of the café and stared thoughtfully at Angela and Jorge. They looked so much like them, it was almost uncanny. He tried to dismiss the thought, knowing that it was impossible, but it remained prevalent in his mind. Sighing, he turned his attention back to the drinks he was making, trying to set his focus on something else; something much more real.

Like Dan, he also wondered why the Chaos Three hadn't attacked them again yet. Unlike Dan, though, he knew that if Stephen was out for a while, it would not be easy for Erica and Rufus to come up with anything to attack them with. Sure, they would think of something soon enough, but without Stephen, their leader and idea-maker, they would have trouble. Which was fine with him, Will thought grimly. The longer it took for the younger two to attack them, the better.

Erica came out of her room with a serious look on her face. Rufus, who had been gazing out through the telescope, turned to her expectantly and smiled.

"I've got a good one," she said, not having to explain what she was talking about. "And, I have an idea of how we can make it even better once we've created it."

"Oh?" Rufus asked, interested. "And what's that?"

The girl grinned. "We could give it your Dark Thunder," she said. "If it had that power, it would be almost as strong as you. The Rangers would have a hard time defeating it."

Rufus thought about this for a second. Then, he shook his head thoughtfully. "No," he said. "We should give it your powers."

Erica looked at him oddly. "Why my powers? Dark Water is the weakest of the three, and you know that."

"But, it's the strongest against Fire," Rufus said, eying her slyly. "And Light Fire as well. We tell this monster to attack Will specifically, and it might be able to defeat him, or at least do some serious damage. Stephen would he happy when he wakes up if he sees that we got some revenge for him."

Erica raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Perfect," she said, an evil tone in her voice. "Dark Water will go perfectly with the monster I have in mind."

"Then let's create him, shall we?" His companion nodded and the two of them stood in front of each other, arms extended above their heads, almost touching hands. It wasn't really a circle, but it was the best they could do with only two of them.

They closed their eyes and focused hard, concentrating on the monster in Erica's head. At last, in a flash of yellow and blue, the monster appeared in between them. It looked like a mix between a shark and an alligator, and most of its body was blue. It had a large dorsal fin down it's back, and it was covered with deep blue scales from head to toe. The face was that of an alligator, and its long, protruding snout was the only part of it that was green. It's blue eyes darted menacingly around the room, and it looked ready to fight.

Erica grinned at their creation. "While we were creating it, I gave it my powers," she said. Rufus nodded, then turned to the monster, looking at him seriously.

"You are to attack the Trienith Red Ranger especially," he said. "Use your Dark Water powers on him, and any of the other Rangers as well. But, mainly attack him." The monster nodded in agreement and understanding and Rufus smiled. "Your name shall be…Uzurin." As he said the name, the creature disappeared from the room, teleporting to the café.

Will sighed as he gazed out the window of the café. He saw the monster appear, but somehow it didn't surprise him. The other Rangers noticed it too, along with everyone else in the café. As always happened when a monster attacked, the Overclocked Café emptied as people fled for their lives. Soon, the only people left were Dan, Peg, Sean, Beth, Tiz, Will, Del, and Marie. The Rangers were standing outside, facing Uzurin, ready to morph and attack. Del and Marie stayed inside, watching the potential battle through the window.

Will looked around at his team. "Ready, guys?" They nodded and prepared to morph.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

The now morphed Rangers ran in and started to fight the monster. The battle was pretty normal at first, and this monster didn't seem any stronger than any other one they had fought. All of a sudden, though, he stretched out his powerful clawed arm and shoved Peg, Sean, Beth, and Tiz out of the way, sending them flying off to the side. Now, he was facing only Will and Dan.

"I have specific orders to attack you," Uzurin said in his gruff, hoarse-sounding voice, looking at directly at Will. The monster grinned, if you could call it a grin, and he put his hands out in front of him. The Rangers had no idea what to expect. No monster they had fought had ever done anything like this before. Suddenly, a powerful blast of Dark Water burst from his outstretched hands, shooting straight towards Will. Seeing this, Dan let out a cry and he ran over and pushed Will out of the way, allowing the blast to hit him instead of his leader.

He screamed in pain and flew backwards, hitting the ground hard and demorphing. The Trienith Red Ranger stared after his fallen team mate, who was now unconscious.

"Dan!" he cried, running over to him and kneeling beside him. It was obvious that he was hurt badly.

Uzurin growled angrily. "I missed! Dang it!" Glaring at the Red Rangers, he prepared for another shot. "But I won't miss this time!"

Before he had a chance to attack again, he felt himself being stabbed in the side by Peg's trident.

"Leave them alone!" The Blue Ranger's voice was harsh and angry as she continued to attack the monster. Beth ran over to help her while Sean and Tiz went to where Dan and Will were.

"Green Earth Daggers!" Beth called upon her weapons and moved in to attack Uzurin. But, before she got a chance, a familiar figure appeared next to her and she felt herself shocked with electricity. Crying out in pain, she fell over and demorphed. Rufus glared at her for a second then looked back at the monster.

"Come," he said. "We'll finish this later. Let's go now, Uzurin." As soon as he said the monster's name, the two of them disappeared in a flash of yellow, leaving no trace of ever having been there.

As Rufus and Uzurin appeared in the main room of the tower, Erica stood glaring at the monster.

"You attacked the wrong person!" she said angrily. She was about to continue when Rufus held up a hand, silencing her.

"It's okay," he said. "There's always next time. At least now their Red Ranger will be out of it for a while, and next time we attack Will, he won't be able to get in the way."

Erica sighed, still shaking her head at Uzurin.

"I will not fail you next time, Master," the monster said, giving a slight bow to Rufus. The youngest member of the Chaos Three grinned.

"I know you won't."

Tiz carried the unconscious form of Dan inside the café, taking him into the back room. He was followed by Peg and Will, who told the other two to wait out in the main room. Beth and Sean obeyed, sitting at their table with Del and Marie. They were silent for a while, hardly knowing what to say. At last, Beth spoke.

"I hope Dan will be okay," she whispered, her face wrinkling up with worry. From his spot on the other side of the table, Sean laid his hand on hers.

"He'll be fine, Bethy," he said, trying to sound confident. "Dan is strong, and he won't let something like this defeat him."

Beth smiled slightly. "That was brave of him to take a hit like that for Will."

Del smiled as well. "I'm sure any of you would have done the same thing," he said. "But, Dan was the closest one to him."

Beth nodded grimly. "And the one who the Dark Water will hurt the most…" Her voice trailed off as silence filled the room again. Marie, who was sitting next to Sean, leaned against her brother and sighed sadly.

In the back room of the café, Tiz gently lay Dan on Will's small cot. Peg stood towards the entrance of the room, gazing sadly at the Red Ranger.

"Is he going to be okay, Will?" she asked, not looking away from her friend. The Trienith Red Ranger shook his head.

"I don't know," he said. "Fire is weakest against Dark Water, so the attack may have done some serious damage to him."

"He'd better be okay," she replied, tears shining in her eyes, unnoticeable in the dimly lighted room. "He has to be. We need him." Her voice dropped to a soft whisper. "I need him…"

Will winced a little and sighed, closing his eyes. "That attack was meant for me," he said in an almost toneless voice. "Erica and Rufus must have wanted revenge for what I did to Stephen. But, instead, they got Dan. He saved me…" He paused. "It should be me who is hurt right now, not him," he added sadly.

As Tiz stood next to the cot and looked down at his best friend, anger began to build up in his heart. That monster was going to pay for what he did to Dan, whether it was intended for him or not. He vowed right then and there to destroy Uzurin no matter what it took. No one hurt his best friend and got away with it. Ever since the two of them were kids, they had always protected each other and gotten each other out of trouble when it was needed. Now, Dan had been hurt, and Tiz hadn't been able to protect him. Well, if he couldn't prevent it, he would at least avenge it.

Rufus watched Stephen as he continued to sleep in an unconscious state and sighed. Was he ever going to wake up? In a way, Rufus kind of wished he wouldn't wake up just yet. He hoped that he would have a chance to have Uzurin attack Will with his Dark Water before that happened. Maybe, if he got revenge for Stephen, he would be happy with him for once.

He remembered what Stephen had said to him that one time after he had kidnapped the Red Ranger.

_"And, someday soon, you might be ready." _

"R-ready for what?"

"You'll see when the time is right."

What was he talking about? What would Rufus be ready for? Questions filled his head, but he knew that even if Stephen wasn't unconscious right now, he wouldn't and shouldn't ask them. If he would see when the time was right, he hoped that the time would be right soon.

Thinking of the right time, he closed the door to Stephen's room softly and went over to the telescope. He had to decide when to send Uzurin back down for a second attack. He didn't want to attack to quickly, since the monster was still tired from his battle, but if he waited too long, the Red Ranger might have a chance to recover from the attack, which would make things more difficult. Looking through the telescope, he decided to wait just a little bit longer.

Will and Tiz had gone out into the main room, leaving Peg to be alone with Dan for a while. She was now sitting on a chair next to the top of the cot, silently gazing at Dan as he slept. He looked so peaceful and calm in his sleep, and, in a way, very serious, which was not like him at all. It was strange seeing him like that, and such a contrast to his usual expression. Somehow, it seemed almost haunting…

Peg shivered a little and gently laid her hand on the Red Ranger's forehead. She stroked it gently and smiled at him.

"You have to wake up soon, Dan," she whispered to him, even though she knew he couldn't hear her. "You have to be okay…" Suddenly, a serious, angry expression came to her face as anger bubbled inside her. "That monster will pay for what he did to you," she said, thinking aloud. "I promise, I will make him pay. If I ever see him again, I will personally destroy him, no matter what."

As Peg gazed at her friend, it seemed that his face changed slightly. A hint of a smile played on his lips, almost as if he had heard her and understood. She wondered at that, thinking it strangely ironic. She remembered having read before that sometimes, people who wake up from comas say that they heard everything that was going on around them, even though they couldn't wake up. She wondered if that's what was happening now.

Deciding to test it, she leaned over Dan and whispered softly. "I love you." The expression on his face didn't change, which disappointed Peg a little. Sighing, she spoke again, not knowing whether he would hear her or not. "Dan, I promise you, I will get revenge on that creature, and on the Chaos Three."

Rufus grinned as he watched Peg and Dan through the telescope. Although he didn't know what they were saying, he figured that Peg must be terribly upset about him being hurt. Even though the monster had hit the wrong person, Rufus was glad that he had hurt Dan rather than one of the other Rangers. At least now Peg would be hurting again, and Rufus still hated her with a passion for what she did to Erica. He wished her as much pain and suffering as could happen to her.

Erica came up from behind him and looked at him oddly, noticing that he had an evil grin on his face. It wasn't like Rufus, and she wondered what he was thinking about. As she came up to him, his expression changed and he smiled at her in his normal, cheerful way.

"I think it's time," he said, going over to the monster, who was standing not too far from them. "Go now," he said to him, giving him a serious look. "And do it right this time, Uzurin." The monster nodded understandingly as it disappeared in a flash.

Beth groaned as she looked outside and saw that Uzurin was back. "Can't they give us even a little bit of a break?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Apparently not," Will answered grimly. He got up and motioned for the others to follow him. Turning to the Green Ranger, he said, "Beth, go and get Peg."

The girl nodded and raced to the back room as the others went outside to face Uzurin.

When Beth got to the room, she saw Peg sitting next to Dan, looking at him sadly. She paused for a moment, not really wanting to interrupt them, but she knew that Peg would want to be involved in this fight.

"Hey," she said in a gentle tone as she stood in the doorway. Peg started and turned quickly to face Beth. "The monster's back." The change that came over the Blue Ranger's face almost scared her team mate as she grinned evilly.

"Good," she said, anger simmering in her voice. "I will make him pay for what he did to Dan." She seemed to be speaking more to herself than to Beth. Standing up, she pushed past the Green Ranger and ran outside to join the battle. Beth paused for a moment before following, looking at the sleeping form of the Red Ranger.

"I hope you'll be okay soon, Dan," she said softly. "For your sake and for Peg's…" With that, she took off after her friend to the outside of the café.

The other Rangers were already morphed when Beth got there, so she prepared to morph as well.

"Element, Earth!" she cried, running in to help fight. Peg and Tiz were attacking Uzurin while the others were fighting a bunch of Crodus that had apparently been sent down with him. Deciding that the Blue and Yellow Rangers were probably the most set on revenge for Dan, she went over and helped Will and Sean fight the Crodus.

Peg had her trident out and she was slashing Uzurin with it continuously, not allowing it to have any time to fight back. After a while, though, it broke free of her attacks and slapped her across the chest, sending her stumbling backwards a few feet. Tiz came in with his sai and attacked the monster from behind. Uzurin swung around and kicked Tiz in the stomach, causing him to keel over painfully. By now, Peg had gotten up, and she ran over to help Tiz up. The two of them attacked at the same time, each slashing the front of the monster with their weapons. Sparks flew from him as he was hit, and he cried out in pain.

"This isn't what I came here to do!" he yelled in a frustrated voice. Pushing the Blue and Yellow Rangers aside, he turned to where the Trienith Red Ranger was fighting the Crodus. "You're my main target," he said, even though Will could not hear him. He prepared to shoot another blast of water at him.

"Oh, no you don't!" Tiz cried, kicking the monster from the side and causing him to stumble. The Yellow Ranger turned to Peg. "Hey, want to double team him?" She grinned nodded and grinned from under her helmet.

The two Rangers stood facing Uzurin, who now faced them as well. Peg created a large blast of water and sent it towards the monster just as Tiz sent electricity out to surround it. Both the Thunder and the Water hit Uzurin head on, making him cry out horribly in pain and fall backwards in a huge explosion.

Tiz and Peg both demorphed, not entirely willingly, exhausted from having used such large attacks with their powers. As the monster was destroyed, the Crodus disappeared as well, fading away as if they were disintegrating.

The other Rangers came up and demorphed as well, looking at their team mates in awe.

"That was awesome, guys!" Sean said, smiling at his friends.

The two Rangers looked at each other and smiled.

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Tiz remarked with a smirk. He put his hand on Peg's shoulder. "We make a pretty good team."

Peg nodded and was about to say something when a familiar voice was heard coming from the café. As they turned to look, they saw that Dan was standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall a little and grinning at them.

"Hey, guys," he said, his voice sounding a bit weak and tired. Peg immediately ran over to him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back and smiled gently at her. After a few moments, they broke away from their hug and Dan looked down into Peg's eyes. As the other Rangers walked up to them, he whispered softly to the Blue Ranger. "I love you, too."

Rufus felt overwhelmed with a million different emotions all hitting him at once. He felt simultaneously furious at Uzurin for losing, disappointed in himself for not getting revenge for Stephen, and worried about what Stephen would say when he woke up. Gazing through the telescope, he sighed audibly, his brow knit with the impact of all the emotions he was feeling. Erica stood not too far away from him and watched him silently, not knowing what to do or say.

At last, Rufus turned away from the telescope and went into his room, closing the door behind him and sitting on the edge of his bed. He held his head in his hands, losing himself in thought. He hoped that Stephen would wake up soon so this nightmare would be over.

Erica watched as Rufus left the room. She sighed sadly, wishing she could do something to make him feel better. Although he was the youngest, she knew that he felt the need to be the leader while Stephen was out of it. The stress was getting to him, she could see. Erica felt so helpless right now. She wanted to make Rufus feel better, but she was at a loss of how to go about doing that. Deciding there was nothing she could do, she went into her own room and closed the door.

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A/N: Oooh, teh shippyness! I hope you guys liked it! Leave a review!

Wearer of the Black Hat: Becca is not a character in this fanfic. She's from the role play that Beth was writing. Sorry if you didn't catch that. Beth was writing the post to a role play, and Becca is a character in that. The role play is a real one on Ranger-Power, if you'd like to read it. It's called Night School: Survival of the Fittest. And, they couldn't capture the Chaos Three just yet. There is still a long way to go with this fanfic, so we can't have it resloved yet.

Sexi Silver: I'm glad you liked it! Will is so awesome, isn't he? Again, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter.

Angel-of-light91: Same thing I said to Wearer of the Black Hat.

lil Cwick: Glad you liked it!

juzblue: I never really said how old Will was, but for the record, he's about 36. That will be more important later on.


	11. Birth of Chaos

A/N: Wow, this episode took forever! So sorry, guys! I lost my inspiration for a bit, but I think it's back now, so all is well. This chapter is kind of shorter, but it's still pretty good.

And so, without further ado, I give you, Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 11. Enjoy!

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Episode 11: Birth of Chaos

Rufus and Erica stood in the main room of the tower in different areas, each person silently thinking their own thoughts. It was quiet, which was common on most days and especially common now that Stephen was out of it. Rufus stared out the window, his brow knit with worry. Their leader had still not woken up, and the younger ones did not know what to do. He had suffered greatly from the attack by Will, and Rufus wasn't sure if he would ever wake up. If that happened, what would he and Erica do? Shuddering, Rufus tried not to think about that, knowing that they would have no chance of defeating the Rangers and accomplishing their goal without Stephen.

Suddenly, Erica and Rufus heard sounds of motion coming from Stephen's room. They glanced at each other for a quick second before running to his room and opening the door. He was stirring now, and he looked like a child suffering from a terrible nightmare but about to wake up from it. As they watched him, his eyes shot open and he looked at them, panting and sweating as if he had just done great exercise or suffered great fear. After a moment, he calmed down and closed his eyes again, putting his hand to his forehead and sighing. He sat up gradually and was silent for a moment, looking as if he was trying to speak.

At last, he stood up and turned to Rufus, gazing at him with a look that was a mixture of anger, confusion, and curiosity. In a strange, unnatural, tired voice that was quite different than his usual one, he asked, "Rufus, what happened while I was out?"

The younger boy hesitated, looking at Erica for support. She smiled encouragingly at him and he turned back to Stephen, proceeding to explain everything that had happened during Stephen's "absence".

Angela smiled as she walked into the Overclocked Café with Jorge. It was Monday after school, and it had been a typical, boring Monday. She laughed a little internally as she realized how much time they spent at the café. They had gone there every day after school since Spring Break had ended, and they had spent much time there during the break as well. And why shouldn't they? she thought. The café was a great place to hang out, and they always had fun there together.

As they approached the table where they usually sat with their friends, Angela and Jorge noticed Dan and Peg sitting especially close together. Dan had his arm around her shoulder, and both of them seemed happy. The two grinned at each other as they sat down at the table. They had known for a while that Dan and Peg liked each other, but now, they guessed it was official. Without saying anything, they silently agreed with their expressions not to mention it.

Most of the others were already there. Dan, Peg, and Tiz were sitting around the table. Both Beth and Del were working today, as the café was particularly crowded today for whatever reason. Sean was taking Marie to school and would be there soon. Everything seemed peaceful for now, and the Rangers could only hope it would last for a while.

Will stood behind the counter, lost in thought, his mind not fully on the work he was doing in making drinks. He also had noticed the peace and quiet. Yesterday had been uneventful, and there had been no sign of the Chaos Three. He supposed that Stephen had yet to wake up, and since Rufus and Erica had suffered such a defeat the other day, they probably weren't going to attack again anytime soon. They might not attack at all as long as Stephen was still out, but who knew how long that would last? Eventually, he would have to come to, and when he did, the attacks and the fighting would start again.

He grinned at the thought that he had hurt Stephen so badly. He had proven that Light Fire was stronger than Dark Fire, despite what everyone on Trienith used to think, Stephen included. Light Fire had the power of goodness rather than evil, and that had made all the difference in the fight. Although, as Will thought, his anger and hatred for Stephen might have had something to do with his victory.

Stephen had listened patiently as Rufus described the unsuccessful battle between their monster and the Rangers. The younger boy was obviously nervous as he spoke, and his voice had been shaking slightly the whole time. He could hardly look into Stephen's eyes. The leader of the Chaos Three showed no emotion as he spoke. He simply gazed at Rufus and listened to what he said. When he was done, he closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

Then, much to the surprise of Rufus and Erica, a smile came to his face and he opened his eyes again, pausing for a moment and saying nothing. At last, he spoke.

"Although you lost the battle, Rufus, you have once more proven that you have great initiative," he said, looking into the eyes of the one he was speaking to. "You were trying to avenge me, which is an honorable desire. Your idea to give Uzurin the power of Dark Water was an excellent one, which shows that you have intelligence and reason. And, you did manage to injure the Red Ranger for a time." He walked up to Rufus and laid his hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to wince a little. "I think at last, you are ready."

Rufus looked at him, confused. "Ready?"

Stephen nodded, then went over and knelt beside a locked chest at the edge of his bed. Taking out a key, he unlocked it and opened it, pulling out a small box. Standing up again, he faced Rufus and held the box out to him, motioning that he should open it.

Rufus obeyed, and he was shocked with what he saw in the box. After a moment's shocked pause, he tore his eyes off of it and looked back at Stephen. "Is.is that..?" He couldn't bring himself to finish the question.

Stephen nodded. "Yes, it is."

Erica was watching them, standing in the corner of the room, her eyes open wide. She could hardly believe what she was seeing, and neither could Rufus.

"B-but, why me?" the boy asked in a soft, breathless tone. "Why not you, or Erica?"

Stephen closed the box and handed it to him. "You are the only one the power will work for, Rufus. I first found this power in the form of a small, glowing Crystal back when we were on Trienith. Ever since we got to Earth, I have been studying it and trying to figure out how to harness it. I created a morpher for it similar to the ones the Trienith Rangers had. During my research, I found that the power was only compatible with Rufus. For some reason, it cannot work for me or for Erica. I'm not sure why, but I know that it is true. The power has to be yours, Rufus. There is no one else who could use it."

Rufus felt his mouth go dry as he took the box, and he had to almost choke out the words. "Are you absolutely sure?" Stephen nodded. "But, what if I'm not ready?"

"You are ready," the older boy replied. "If you weren't, I wouldn't have given it to you now. I've been waiting for the right time, and now is that time. Take the power, Rufus. It is yours."

Sean walked up to the café having just taken his sister to school. He was just about to go inside when a streak of yellow appeared behind him. He didn't notice until he heard one of the cars in the parking lot explode.

The Rangers in the café groaned, thinking that the Chaos Three was attacking with another monster. As always happened during an attack, the café emptied and soon only the Rangers stood outside. They were surprised to see not a monster but the menacing, now cloaked form of Rufus. He looked up at them from under his hood and gave them a piercing glare. The look on his face was so evil and defiant that it seemed unnatural for the youngest member of the Chaos Three. The Rangers got in fighting stances, preparing for a battle, and Will took a few steps forward slowly, looking curiously at the boy before him.

"What do you want, Rufus?" he asked in a somewhat mocking tone. "Haven't you realized yet that we can easily defeat you?"

Rufus laughed, and it was an eerie, chilling sound. "You could easily defeat me before, Adus," he said, purposefully using his enemy's Trienith name. "But now, I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine." With that, he threw off his cloak and held his hand diagonally across his chest, glancing down at what was on his wrist. The Rangers stared at him in awe, horror, and disbelief, hardly knowing what to say. They were all silent for a few moments, unable to believe what they were seeing. At last, Beth tore her eyes away from Rufus and turned them to the Trienith Red Ranger.

"Will," she breathed, hardly speaking above a whisper. "Is that a morpher? How can he have a morpher?" Instead of answering her, he took another few steps forward, still looking at Rufus.

"Where did you get that, Oscuro?" he asked, his voice lacking any specific tone. He sounded almost scared, which was unnerving for his team mates.

Rufus smirked at him and let his arm fall back to his side. "It was a little present from Stephen," he said simply. "He said that I was ready for the power, and now, I get to try it out on you. Are you ready, Rangers?" Without waiting for a response, he performed a morphing sequence like theirs and cried, "Element, Dark!" As he said the words, he was engulfed in a deep purple light that nearly blinded the other Rangers with its intensity. They turned away from it, unable to bear the brightness. When the light cleared, there stood in place of Rufus a Power Ranger.

His suit was most like Will's, with spikes coming out from under the elbows and knees. It was a dark, royal purple color that was almost black. On the chest, there was a symbol with three Elements on it: Dark Fire, Dark Water, and Dark Thunder. They were surrounded by a black aura that showed their darkness clearly. Rufus stood still for a moment, unmoving, staring out of his visor at his enemies. After a second, he looked down at himself and began examining his suit. The power he felt rushing through is veins was more than anything he had ever felt before. He felt almost overwhelmed with it and he could hardly believe the feeling.

Looking back up at the Rangers, he grinned from under his helmet. "Well, Adus," he said with a superior tone. "Now we're a bit more even, aren't we?" He chuckled at the look of amazement and shock on the faces of his enemies. Will especially looked surprised and unprepared. He had never known about any dark powers like this. Where had it come from? And how had Stephen gotten his hands on it?

Will took a deep breath before answering. "Oscuro, I don't know where you got that power, but it must be dangerous. I suggest you don't use it. Dark powers have a way of causing trouble for those who use them."

Rufus scoffed at him. "You think I care? I'm not afraid. It's you who should be afraid now." He paused for a moment in thought. "And, you don't have to call me Rufus or Oscuro anymore. Now, you can call me the Chaos Ranger."

Will sighed and thought grimly of how appropriate the name was. But, there was no time to think about that. They had to stop Rufus before he caused trouble with his newfound powers.

"Come on, guys," he said, glancing at his teammates. "We can take him no problem, right?"

The others looked at each other and nodded, a bit of uncertainty evident in their faces. Will cringed a little before preparing to morph.

"Element, Light Fire!"

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

The six Rangers morphed into their respective colors and prepared to fight the new Ranger. The latter wasted no time once his enemies were morphed and he ran in and started to fight. He attacked Tiz first, giving him a roundhouse kick to the stomach. Next, he turned and punched at Dan, who was coming up to him from the side. He hit him smack in the face and sent him stumbling back. Sean came up from behind and tried to kick Rufus, but, somehow he sensed him coming and kicked backwards, getting Sean in the shin and causing him to fall over in pain.

Beth and Peg ran in from either side of him and started to attack him at once. Beth landed a kick to his hip, but he recovered from it quickly and he pushed her away. Peg took the opportunity while he was distracted and she kicked him in his back, which was facing towards her. Rufus stumbled a bit, but he regained his balance quickly and aimed a kick at her abdomen, hitting her and causing her to keel over.

Next, Will ran forward and punched Rufus in the face. Immediately after, he kicked him in the stomach and then in the legs, which made him fall backwards. He staggered back to his feet and kicked Will away, glaring at him from under his helmet.

Suddenly, Rufus felt a sharp slash across his back and he cried out painfully. Turning around, he saw that Dan had hit him with his sword and was preparing to strike again. He dodged it this time, but he was not prepared for an attack from the side with Peg's trident. He stumbled back in the other direction only to be met with a blow from Beth's daggers. Sean had an arrow ready to shoot at Rufus, but he never got the chance to.

"Chaos Lance!" The new Ranger called out these words, lifting his hand up. Then, in a flash of dark purple, a lance appeared in his hand. It was the same color as his suit, except the tip of it was engraved silver. He grinned from under his helmet and ran towards Sean, jabbing his lance into him, hitting him in the stomach. The White Ranger cried out in pain and clutched his stomach, dropping his bow in the process.

Dan ran forward and slashed at the Chaos Ranger with his sword, getting him across the arm. Rufus grunted a little but he turned to the Red Ranger and slammed the side of his lance, causing him to fall back in pain. Beth came in with her daggers and slashed them across Rufus' middle. Sparks flew from his suit as the daggers hit and he fell back a bit. Recovering, he hit the lance across the side of her head, making her fall over unconscious. She demorphed and lay still at his feet.

"Beth!" Sean cried. He had recovered from the blow of the lance and he ran over to the unmoving form of the Green Ranger, powering down and keeling beside her. He gently picked her up in his arms and held her there, looking at her with worry in his face. "Beth, wake up…"

Rufus laughed and stepped away from the two Rangers, rolling his eyes at them. Suddenly, his heart faltered for a moment as he remembered a similar situation involving him and Erica…

As he thought about that, he was momentarily distracted, which gave Peg an opportunity to move in with her trident. She stabbed him in the back with the tip of the trident, causing him to scream painfully. He turned around and tried to swipe at her with his lance, but she leapt out of the way.

Will grinned from under his helmet. "It's my turn now!" he cried. "Light Fire Blade!" With that, fire shot out from the Trienith Red Ranger's hand in the shape of a sword. Then, the fire hardened and became a blade in his hand. It was similar to Dan's but it had certain differences. Will smiled and ran over to Rufus. He began slashing him relentlessly with his sword, not giving him a chance to use his lance. At last, though, Rufus broke free of his attacks and stepped back a bit. Then, he did something altogether unexpected.

The Chaos Ranger thrust a hand out towards Will in a way that obviously showed that he was about to use his Element powers. But, instead of electricity shooting out, a burst of Dark Fire hit Will head on and sent them flying back. The Ranger stood up painfully and stared in awe from under his helmet. How was this possible? How could Rufus use Dark Fire when his Element was Dark Thunder? Then, it hit him.

"I guess the Chaos power you have gives you the ability to use all of the Dark Elements, Oscuro" he said grimly, thinking out loud more than anything else. Rufus chuckled evilly and nodded.

"I suppose so," he said. The thought had never occurred to him before. He had had every intention of using Dark Thunder on the Trienith Red Ranger, and he was shocked when Dark Fire came out instead. But, Will's reasoning made perfect sense, and it intrigued Rufus. "Then that must mean that I can do this!" He put both hands forward and shot a stream of Dark Water towards Will. The Trienith Red Ranger managed to dodge it, leaping to the side and out of the way.

"You won't get me that easily, Oscuro!" he cried.

Rufus growled in frustration for having missed and he prepared to attack again. Before he got the chance, though, he felt strong electricity pulsing through his body. He screamed in pain and fell to his knees as Tiz used all his strength to shoot him with his Thunder.

The Chaos Ranger was silent for a moment, panting heavily in pain. At last, he stood up and laughed, turning to face Dan, Peg, and Tiz.

"You think that will defeat me, Yellow Ranger?" he said, facing the Ranger in question. "It may have been enough last time, but it won't cut it this time. Not with my new powers. It's time to see what these powers can really do!"

With that, he put his hands out towards them and let a burst of Dark Thunder shoot out. Before it could hit them, though, Dark Fire and Dark Water came out as well, merging with the electricity. The three Dark Elements hit the Rangers in full force, sending them flying backwards. They landed on the ground hard and demorphed. Will, who was still standing on the other side of the Chaos Ranger, could only watch in horror.

All of a sudden, Rufus fell forward on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He demorphed as well, and he looked thoroughly spent and fatigued. That attack had taken a lot of energy, and it had really drained him.

Will powered down and ran over to the three Rangers who had just been attacked, ignoring the exhausted form of Rufus. They were still conscious, but only barely, it seemed. Clenching his fist in anger, the Trienith Red Ranger turned around to face his enemy. But, the Chaos Ranger was nowhere to be seen. Will guessed that he had teleported himself home, seeing as he had won his victory against the Rangers.

Rufus appeared in the tower in a flash of yellow, landing right in the center of the main room. Stephen, who had been looking out through the telescope, turned towards his companion. Erica raced to his side and helped him stand up shakily.

"Rufus, are you okay?" she asked, worry evident in her voice. The boy nodded and turned towards Stephen, looking expectantly for a response about his actions.

The leader of the Chaos Three grinned as he laid a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "You did well, Rufus," he said in a sincere, almost proud voice. "You defeated them for today, and this is a great victory for us." He paused for a moment and looked away, his brow wrinkled in thought. "I never would have expected the Chaos Powers to be so strong," he said softly, more to himself than to the others. "That last attack was amazing. I can't believe that you were able to use all three of the Dark Elements. Of course, mine and Erica's Elements weren't as strong as when we use them, but still, it amazes me that you were able to use them at all. This will be to our advantage…"

Before he had a chance to continue, Rufus stumbled forward, almost falling over onto the floor. Erica caught him and helped him stand, calling his name softly in worry. At a nod from Stephen, she helped the youngest member of the Chaos Three to his bedroom and onto his bed. Stephen followed silently, obviously thinking again.

"Hmm…" He looked at Rufus thoughtfully. "I see that that battle took a lot out of you, even though you won. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The Chaos powers are new to you, and you need some time to get used to them." He paused and smiled at Rufus. His smile was anything but kind, yet somehow it calmed the boy a bit. "But, we can worry about that later. Right now, you need to rest and regain your strength. Come, Erica."

He motioned for her to follow him, and she prepared to do so. Before she left, she took Rufus' hand and held it gently for a moment, giving him a reassuring smile. He grinned back before falling onto his pillow and into a deep, dreamless sleep. Erica let go of his hand and walked to the door. She turned around to give him one more loving glance before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Later that day, the Rangers were sitting in the café, facing Will silently. He stood at the end of the table, looking thoughtfully at the ground. Sean and Beth sat next to each other, and she was leaning on his shoulder gently. Dan had his arms around Peg on the other side of the table, and Tiz sat next to them. At last, the Yellow Ranger spoke.

"Will, I can't believe how strong Rufus was," he said. "I mean, he used the powers of all three Dark Elements like it was nothing…"

Will shook his head. "No," he said. "It wasn't 'nothing'. After that attack, he was obviously drained and exhausted. It took a lot out of him to do something like that. He won't be able to do it very often."

"Still," Sean said. "He defeated us. We lost the battle today."

Dan nodded grimly. "Yeah, we did. We lost badly too. We're just lucky that he didn't destroy us. Next time, we might not be so lucky." Peg shivered a little in his arms and he held her closer.

Will sighed. "Who knows?" he said. We may or may not be. But don't let this victory dishearten you. We are still stronger than him, and if we believe in our power and abilities, we will defeat him. I know that may sound lame and sappy, but it is the truth. Don't worry, guys. We won't let him defeat us." His voice dropped to a whisper that only he could hear as he turned away from them. "I won't let him defeat us."

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!

Sexi Silver: hehe Rufus is even cooler in this chapter, isn't he? And yeah, I thought I had gotten over my writer's block, but it came back for a while. Hopefully I can continue to overcome it. And I'm glad you like Tiz and Peg's move

lil Cwick: I'm glad you're liking this so much! Tiz is flattered that he's your favorite character lol. And please don't come after me with a pitchfork! hehe

Wearer of the Black Hat: That's okay. Sorry I didn't make that clearer. Glad you liked it, though!

icefox35: Thanks!


	12. Time To Train

A/N: Wow, this episode didn't take that long to write. I'm getting my inspiration back! Yay!

This episode is a bit longer than the last one, but it's kind of a filler episode. The title sucks, but that's because I couldn't think of anything else lol

And now, without further ado, I give you, Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 12. Enjoy!

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Episode 12: Time To Train

Rufus awoke with a start, his heart pounding and cold sweat streaming down his face. He was panting, and his eyes were open wide with fear. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and calmed down a bit.

'It was only a dream…' he told himself, struggling to control his breathing. 'Only a dream…' And what a terrible dream it had been. He had dreamed that he was fighting with the Rangers again, using his new found Chaos powers. But, he couldn't control them at all, and nothing was working right. He tried to use his lance, but instead he shot out random streams of Dark Fire, hitting everything and everyone in sight. He tried to use Dark Thunder, but instead his lance shot out and flew from his grasp. His powers were going completely out of control, and the Rangers were getting the best of him.

Then, he noticed that Erica was there, standing off to the side, smiling at him. She whispered quietly for him not to worry, that everything would be okay. He smiled back and tried to go to her, needing the comfort and reassurance she offered him. But, when he got near her, he felt his body begin to shake uncontrollably, and then, to his horror, a wave of Dark Water shot out from his body, flowing over with intense pressure and hitting Erica head on. Her scream filled his ears, piercing and full of pain and anguish. Then, when the water cleared, he saw Erica lying on the ground, unconscious.

But, no, he thought. She wasn't unconscious. She was dead. He didn't know how he knew, but somehow he did. She was dead, and it was because he couldn't control his powers. It was his fault. He had killed Erica. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, even though he knew it would do no good. But he couldn't move. It was as if his feet were plastered to the ground, and he couldn't move an inch closer to her motionless body. He screamed her name loudly, pain and sorrow evident in his voice.

Suddenly, the menacing form of Will came between him and Erica, blocking her from his view. The face of the Trienith Red Ranger was a horrible sight. He was grinning an evil, sadistic grin, and his eyes glowed with Light Fire.

"Look what you've done now, Oscuro," he said. His voice was deep and dark, and there was an evil quality to it that rivaled that of the voice of Stephen. "You killed her. You killed the one you love. It's all your fault, and you know it. You were too weak to handle the power. Pyric was wrong. You weren't ready. You will never be ready." As Rufus looked on in horror, Will changed before his eyes, turning into Stephen, his body bursting with Dark Fire. "You killed her!" His voice became a mixture of deep evil and shrillness, and it stung his ears with every word he said. "You killed Raine!"

At the sound of her name, Rufus cried out in his dream and sat bolt upright, returning suddenly to the world of wakefulness. He put his hand on his forehead and tried to wipe away some of the sweat that had built up during the stress of his dream. The awful voice of the Stephen of his dream still rang in his ears, and he tried to block it, wishing it would just go away.

He turned to look at the clock next to his bed. It read 4:37am. Rufus sighed. It was so early, yet he knew he wouldn't get back to sleep after this. His dreams would be haunted by that voice for the remainder of the night, no matter what he did. Shuddering at the thought, he reached down into the shelf of his nightstand and pulled out his book, turning on the light and beginning to read. He figured that he might as well do something constructive since he was robbed of sleep.

Sean looked curiously at the envelope in his hand. It was a perfectly ordinary envelope, with a stamp in the corner and his name and address on the front. But, what struck him was the return address in the opposite corner of the stamp. The address itself was normal, but the name stuck out at him. "Jud Matos", it said. He stared at it for a moment as a grin slowly formed on his face. He hadn't heard from Jud in weeks. They had tried to keep in contact after he moved to Northern California, but long distance friendships were hard. They mostly talked via e-mail or instant messenger, and occasionally on the phone. But, they only sent letters when it was something really exciting or important. The fact that he now held a letter from his friend intrigued him, knowing that it must be one of those things.

Flipping it over, he broke the seal on the back and opened the envelope, pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper. He straightened out the folds and his eyes scanned the handwritten words that stretched across the lines. He smiled and stared at the page, hardly believing what he was reading. Laughing happily, he set the letter and envelope on the kitchen table next to him and ran outside to his car. He couldn't wait to tell his friends when he got to the Overclocked Café.

It wasn't long before Sean pulled into the parking lot of the café and into a parking space. He flew out of the car, and ran inside, a smile still spread across his face. As expected, he found his friends at their usual table. Running up quickly and almost panting for breath, he laughed inwardly at the strange faces he was getting from Dan, Peg, Beth, Tiz, Angela, and Jorge.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Dan asked. "Take it easy, man." He laughed a little and the others joined him.

"I can't," the White Ranger said, his face still glowing with excitement as he sat down next to Beth. "I just got the coolest news. My old friend, Jud, is moving here from Northern California. We were friends when we were kids, and he helped me take care of Marie for a while before he had to move. Sure, we've kept in touch, but I haven't actually seen him in years, and now he's moving here. I'm so excited!" He took a deep breath, feeling winded from having said so much so quickly. Beth was the first to respond to this news.

"That's awesome, Sean," she said sincerely, hugging him. Tiz, who was sitting on the other side of Beth, looked at him thoughtfully.

"I think I remember Jud," he said. "We met a few times when we were younger."

Sean nodded. "Yep," he said. "Jud was and still is my best friend. I'm so glad he's coming back here at last."

Peg smiled at him from across the table. "Well, I'm happy for you, Sean," she said. He smiled back and thanked her.

Angela grinned playfully at him from her seat next to Jorge, who had his arms around her. "You didn't have to run all the way here, Sean," she said with a laugh. "We'll still be here all day, you know."

He chucked and blushed a little with embarrassment. "Sorry," he replied. "I'm just really excited now."

Jorge nodded understandingly, gently tightening grip on his girlfriend's waist affectionately. "That makes sense," he said. "You have a right to be. It's not every day something exciting happens."

The five Rangers exchanged looks of suppressed laughter. For them, something exciting did happen almost every day, but their two friends did not know that. They didn't know that they were Rangers, and they could never know.

It had been hours since Stephen and Erica had woken, but neither of them had spoken to Rufus the whole time. He figured that Stephen wanted to give him some time to rest, and he had instructed his younger companion not to bother the new Chaos Ranger for a while. In a way, Rufus was touched by this, as it showed that Stephen cared at least a little bit for his wellbeing. But, in another way, he wished that Erica would come and talk to him. Even though he was still in his room reading, lost in the pages of the book in his hands, he would have appreciated some company right now.

At last, he decided to break the silence that now filled the tower. Placing the bookmark in the proper place, he set his book back on his nightstand and crawled out of bed, still yawning from the lack of sleep that night. He went out into the main room and saw Stephen looking out of the telescope as usual. Erica was standing in front of a different window, gazing out into the world below. Rufus smiled at her, loving the way her hair fell about her face as her brow wrinkled in thought. She was so beautiful, he thought. The horrifying events of his dream came back to him, and he thought of how unbearable life would be if he ever lost her the way he had in the dream…

Shaking the thought away, he cleared his throat loudly, trying to get the attention of his companions, who had not yet noticed his entrance. Both of them turned to him immediately, starting out of their respective thoughts. As they saw him, smiles came to both their faces. But, as Rufus noticed, the smiles were as different as night from day. Erica's smile was warm and happy, and it showed a sincere joy at seeing him awake. Stephen's smile, on the other hand, showed joy mixed with what almost seemed like greed. He was happy that Rufus was alright, but it wasn't because he particularly cared about the boy. It was more because of an interest in what he could do for him with his new found power. The thought was not comforting to Rufus, but he decided that he had to take what he could get from Stephen. A smile from him at all was such a rarity he should just be happy to see it, regardless of what it really meant.

"How are you feeling this morning, Rufus?" His deep, powerful voice broke the other boy's thoughts. "Well rested after your long battle, I trust?"

Rufus paused for a moment before answering. Should he just say yes, or should he be truthful with Stephen? He sighed, deciding upon the latter. The leader of the Chaos Three would certainly know if he was lying to him.

"Kind of," he replied nervously. "I had a terrible nightmare this morning and I couldn't get to sleep again after it."

"Oh?" Stephen looked intrigued by this, and he looked at Rufus questioningly, encouraging him by his expression to continue. Erica came closer to him and watched him as he proceeded to describe his dream. When he came to the part where he killed Erica, the girl shuddered a little and laid her hand on his arm gently, smiling sadly at him. This gave him courage, somehow, as he continued to tell his dream. When he had finished, he looked expectantly at his leader, waiting to hear his thoughts on this dream. Instead, he responded with a question.

"And how does this dream make you feel, Rufus?" he asked softly, looking at the younger boy. Rufus felt slightly uncomfortable under his gaze, feeling as if Stephen was looking right into him and judging what he saw.

"I...I don't know," he stammered, trying to keep calm. "It makes me think, though. What if I really do lose control like that? It might happen. I mean, this power is so new to me, and I don't really know how to use it yet…" His voice trailed off, and he knew that he had just let out his fears to Stephen. He silently wished and hoped that he would understand and not think he was stupid for thinking such things.

Stephen nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, it is new to you. You need some practice with it before you will be ready to fight the Rangers again. And I know just how you're going to get it." Rufus and Erica exchanged confused glances, wondering what he was talking about. He smiled. "You will spar against me and Raine, at different times, of course. We will help you practice and have a chance to use your powers in small quantities, building up to using them to their full extent." He turned to Erica. "Are you ready to fight him?"

After a moment's thought, she nodded, a bit reluctantly. "I suppose," she said. "As long as it will help Rufus and our plan, I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

Stephen smiled again. That was just the answer he was waiting to hear. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Good," he said. "Then get ready and meet me outside."

Jud Matos stepped off of the airplane and into the airport, his carry-on backpack securely on his back. He looked around the small waiting room, obviously looking for someone. It might be a bit difficult to find him, since he knew that he looked different than he had when he had last seen him. They had been only kids at the time, after all, and now he was 18 and fully grown. Glancing down at a picture he held in his hand to refresh his memory of what his friend looked like, he smiled, happy that he would finally see him again in person after all these years.

Letting his eyes scan the room again, he finally saw who he was looking for. Sean Varsiano was walking towards him quickly, a bright smile spread across his face. Jud barely had time to notice the girl trailing behind his friend before he was captured in a strong hug. He hugged Sean back with a smile.

"Hey, man," he said in a cheerful voice. "It's great to see you again."

"It's great to see you too," Sean replied with a grin. "It's been way too long."

As Jud nodded his agreement with this sentence, the girl who had been following Sean walked up from behind him.

"And who is this, Sean?" Jud asked, glancing at her.

"Jud, this is my friend Beth," the White Ranger said. Beth nodded shyly and held out a hand towards the newcomer.

"Hello," she said in a soft voice as he shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he agreed. He turned back to his friend and gave him a sly smile. "Is this the girl you were telling me about?" he asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Sean simply nodded and blushed a little, but only Jud noticed that. There was an awkward silence for a few moments before the three of them finally left the airport, picking up Jud's bags from baggage claim along the way.

Rufus took a deep breath and stared nervously into the eyes of the girl across from him. He, Erica, and Stephen now stood outside at the base of the tower. The two younger ones were facing each other, preparing to spar. Their leader stood off to the side, watching them with interest. Both Erica and Rufus were a bit unwilling to fight each other, but they knew it had to be done, as the new Chaos Ranger needed the training in order to be able to properly use his powers against their enemies.

Letting his breath out in a sigh, Rufus cleared his mind and allowed himself to focus. But, when he looked at Erica, he found that he couldn't bring himself to attack her. His thoughts drifted back to the dream that had haunted him last night, and he felt his stomach churning. He couldn't hurt Erica the way he had in his dream. Even though he would have control this time, somehow he felt that he couldn't attack her.

Turning to the side, he noticed Stephen glaring at him, impatient for their battle to begin. Cringing a bit at the glare of his leader, he realized that there was no way of getting out of this. If he didn't fight Erica, Stephen would be angry, and Rufus hated to make him angry. He turned back to his soon-to-be adversary and tried to think of a way he could force himself to attack her. Smiling, he came up with a great idea. He would picture Erica as one of the Rangers so that he wouldn't think he was fighting her.

Soon, with his imagination, Erica turned into Peg in his eyes. The Blue Ranger was the one he still hated more than any of the others, and he knew that he would have no problems fighting her. Taking one last deep breath, he prepared to morph.

"Element, Dark!"

With that, Rufus morphed into the Chaos Ranger. He grinned from under his helmet as he felt the still unfamiliar power coursing through his veins. Glancing once more back at Stephen, he turned and ran forward at Erica, attacking her with full force. He threw a punch at her, but she put out her hand and blocked it, pushing him backwards. He stumbled a few feet, but recovered immediately and sent a flying kick at his opponent, hitting her in the chest and causing her to fall over. She stood up in anger and kicked at him as well. Rufus was too quick for her, though, and he grabbed her leg and spun her around, making her fall again.

The Chaos Ranger hovered over his opponent, waiting for her to stand up again. Instead, she kicked up at him from her position on the ground and hit him in the shin, causing him to wince under his helmet. She took the time he spent grabbing his leg in pain to get up and kick at him again, this time hitting him in the chest. He flew backwards and fell on his side, but it took him only a moment to get up again. Before he had a chance to do anything, though, Erica thrust her hands outward and sent a wave of Dark Water at him, hitting him head on and making him fall again.

Now was his chance to use his Dark Element powers. Getting up quickly, he put his hands out in front of him and sent out both Dark Fire and Dark Thunder at the same time, one Element from each hand. They merged together in the air and flew straight towards Erica. The girl leapt to the side and out of the way, though, and the Elements dissipated in the air when they reached the spot where she had just been standing.

Growling a bit in frustration, Rufus let one hand drop to his side as the other shot his own Dark Water at her, hitting her head on. It didn't hurt her much, though, because her Element was Dark Water, and it was useless against her. If it had been normal Water, like Peg used, it would have been a different story. But, as it was, she was unhurt, which wasn't a bad thing. Rufus needed a chance to use his powers, and now he was getting that chance.

Erica absorbed the water that now covered her body and shot a stream of it back at him. He dodged it and threw a ball of Dark Fire at her legs, which made her fall onto her knees. He took the opportunity to shoot electricity at her while she was down, causing her to scream in pain. At that moment, Stephen came and stood in between them, holding out a hand towards Rufus and motioning for him to stop.

"That's enough with her," he said. "Now, it's my turn."

Sean, Beth, and Jud walked into the Overclocked Café, the two boys talking and laughing happily. It would still take a while for Jud to get fully moved in to his new apartment, but they decided to take a break and come here for a while before that. It was Tuesday, and school had been out for hours now. Of course, Sean and Beth had told their friends where they would be that afternoon, and they were surprised to see them come in so suddenly.

They walked over to the table and Sean spoke, introducing his friend to the others. They greeted him warmly as the three newcomers sat down. Although Beth usually sat next to Sean and Tiz, she figured that the White Ranger would be happier sitting with Jud today, so she sat next to Peg on the other side of the table. The others hardly noticed this as they proceeded to bombard Jud with questions.

"So, where exactly are you moving from?" Dan asked.

"San Francisco," Jud answered. "I moved there when my dad's work transferred him."

"And, what possessed you to move back here?" Peg asked with a chuckle.

"Well, I decided to come back here to go to school, partially because of a promise Sean and I made when I moved before. We said that one day, we would go to college together, and that's what I planned to do."

"Wait, aren't you still in high school?" Dan looked at him curiously.

"Technically, I should be, but I tested out early. High school was too boring for me, so I took the test after the end of first semester this year."

Tiz leaned in a bit to look at him over the body of Sean, who was sitting in between them.

"I have a question," he said, smiling. "Do you remember me? I met you a few times when we were kids. I remember you were like joined at the hip with this one," he added, ruffling Sean's hair as he said it. The White Ranger glared at him a little, but he was still smiling.

Jud wrinkled up his face in thought, as if trying to remember. "I think so," he said thoughtfully. "You're Tiz, right?" The Yellow Ranger nodded. "Ah, yeah, I remember you. Never saw too much of you, though."

"Yeah, I didn't know Sean very well at the time, so we didn't hang out much. Plus, I was too busy hanging out with him." He gestured towards Dan, who grinned.

"Yep," he said simply.

Over at the counter, Will stared silently at the table, his lips parted slightly and his eyes open wide. "Cirin?" he whispered. "Is it possible?" He shook his head sadly, trying to get the thought out of it. "No, it's not. It can't be him. It's just a coincidence, like with those two who look so much like Alassea and Feanaro. They're gone, Will," he said softly, closing his eyes and mentally chastising himself. "The world is just playing tricks on you. They're gone and they're never coming back." He shuddered at that thought, opening his eyes again and glancing back at the table.

Frowning, he sighed, knowing that, if this was Sean's friend, he would be seeing a lot more of him, which meant that the memories of the one he looked like would be ever present in his mind. It was the same with Angela and Jorge. They looked too much like his past friends for him to just forget about it.

It was at that moment that Jud happened to glance at the counter. He noticed Will staring at him, but the Trienith Red Ranger turned away quickly, going back to what he had been doing before. Jud turned to Sean, giving him a questioning look.

"Who's the weird dude?" he asked, motioning towards Will.

Sean had to laugh at that. "That's Will," he answered. "He's the owner of this café. He's not weird." He shook his head and the others laughed with him, finding it strangely funny to hear their mentor and fellow Ranger be called weird.

"Then why is he staring at me?" Jud asked. "And why are you all laughing?"

Beth reached across the table and laid a hand on his, a smile still playing on her lips. "Don't worry about it, Jud," she said, laughter evident in her voice. The boy shrugged, wondering what in the world could be so funny.

Stephen faced Rufus, a wicked grin on his face. Erica was now off to the side, sitting and leaning against a tree, trying to recover from her difficult battle with the Chaos Ranger. She couldn't believe the power he had. It was almost scary, and she was just glad he was on their side instead of with their enemies.

"Come on, Rufus," Stephen said, a hint of impatience in his voice. Somehow, Rufus found it a lot easier to fight Stephen. Not in the sense that he was less powerful than Erica by any means, but in the sense that he didn't have to force himself to fight him. Although he had a great deal of respect for his leader, it was different fighting him. He guessed it was because he didn't love Stephen the way he loved Erica…

But, there was no time to think of that now, as the oldest member of the Chaos Three ran forward to strike. He aimed a strong kick at his opponent, hitting him in the chest hard. Rufus keeled over, clutching the place where the kick landed, the breath knocked out of him for a moment. He recovered as quickly as possible and punched at Stephen, getting him smack in the face. Stephen growled in pain and pushed Rufus away. The younger boy stumbled a bit, but he didn't fall. He ran back towards his challenger and jumped over him with a flip, landing on the other side of him, facing away from him. He kicked backwards and hit Stephen, causing him to fall over forwards.

As the older boy stood up, he smiled in a way that showed approval for this move. Rufus mentally beamed, feeling ecstatic that Stephen was impressed with him. But, he didn't have long to think about that as his leader threw a hand out towards him, shooting Dark Fire out. Rufus dodged it and hit him with a strong blast of his own fire. Although it didn't hurt Stephen, seeing as it was his Element, it was still obviously powerful.

"Come on," Stephen said. "Use another Element." Rufus nodded and prepared to obey.

He put both hands out in front of him and shot a stream of Dark Water out, letting Dark Thunder come out of the other hand. The electricity swirled around the water as it flew out towards Stephen. The older boy tried to dodge it, but it was too fast for him and it still scraped against his back. The water mixed with electricity shot through him, causing him to jolt in pain and fall to his knees. He cried out and reached behind him, touching the part that had been hit with the back of his hand.

Rufus faltered, hoping desperately that he hadn't hurt Stephen badly. He demorphed and ran over to him, kneeling beside him and laying a hand on his back gently.

"Stephen, are you okay?" he asked in a concerned tone. Erica came running up as well, and she looked worriedly at her leader.

"I'm fine," he answered, grinning at Rufus. "That was amazing. Your power is immense, Rufus. I just know that next time you fight the Rangers, you're going to do some serious damage, if not defeat them then and there."

Rufus smiled with relief, glad that he had not hurt his companion too badly. He could hardly believe his ears as he received such praise from Stephen. It wasn't like him to say anything good about his team mates, but when he did, it really meant something.

"I hope you're right, Stephen," he said softly, helping him stand.

Angela and Jorge walked into the café, hand in hand, and made their way over to the table where their friends sat. They noticed an extra head there, which meant that there was some new person at the table with their friends. Beth was the first to notice their arrival, and she smiled happily at them.

"Hey, guys!" she said in a cheerful tone.

The two of them returned the greeting with the same cheerfulness.

"Who is this?" Jorge asked, gesturing towards Jud. As he turned to look at them, and the three pairs of eyes met, Beth noticed a strange change on their faces, and what seemed to be a glow in their eyes. It seemed to her that Angela's eyes glowed white for a moment, Jorge's blue, and Jud's green. But, it was so quick and fleeting that Beth figured it had to be her imagination. She shook the thought away as Angela and Jorge pulled up chairs and sat at the end of the table while Sean proceeded to introduce Jud.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jud," Angela said, smiling warmly and shaking his hand. Jorge did the same.

"It's nice to meet you too," Jud answered with a grin. Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, Del walked up to take their orders.

"Hello, all," he said with a smile and a wave. "It looks like everyone is here now." He looked at Jud curiously. "As well as someone new…" Sean introduced his friend for what seemed like the millionth time today and the two of them shook hands. "So, what can I get for you guys?" Del asked, pulling out his notebook and a pen. They each ordered their respective drinks and Del made his way back to the counter to give the orders to Will.

When he got there, he noticed that his boss had an unusually pensive look on his face. "You look thoughtful," Del said as he handed the orders to him. "What's up?"

Will sighed and inwardly chuckled, realizing that he couldn't hide his emotions or his thoughts from the boy. He seemed to always be able to tell when something was bothering him, or anyone else for that matter. It was one of Del's greatest qualities, Will thought.

"Well, that new guy at the table with the Rangers, he looks familiar," he said, raising his eyebrows. "The same way as Angela and Jorge, if you know what I mean." Del nodded understandingly. "Did you notice anything strange about the way they looked at each other when they first met?" Will asked as he began to make their orders.

"No," Del said, thinking for a moment. "But, then again, I wasn't close enough to see when they first met."

"Hmm, you're right," Will said with a sigh. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "I swear that fate is trying to torture me…"

Erica and Rufus sat on his bed, talking. Stephen was in his own room now, sleeping, still tired from his sparring match with the Chaos Ranger.

Erica smiled at her companion. "I can't believe how powerful you are, Rufus," she said. "You'll be able to defeat the Rangers in no time at all, I'm sure."

He nodded solemnly. "Yes," he sighed. "I probably will." He looked away and said nothing more.

The girl next to him eyed him curiously. "What's wrong?" she asked. He paused for a moment before responding.

"I don't know. It's just that I still kind of wish that you or Stephen could have had the Chaos powers rather than me."

Erica laughed a little. "I'm glad it wasn't me," she said. "I mean, it would be kind of fun to have that power, but it would also be such a big responsibility."

"Yeah, that's the problem," Rufus said, sighing again. "What if I mess up? What if I use the powers wrong? Or, worst of all, what if my dream comes true, and I lose control…" His voice trailed off as he tried not to imagine that possibility.

Erica put her arm around his shoulder gently. "Don't worry, Rufus," she said. "You won't mess up or lose control. You can do it. I believe in you." She kissed his cheek softly and gazed into his eyes. He looked at her, a bit surprised at her current actions. It wasn't like Erica to show affection like this, or emotion. But, it was nice when she did, and he wished she would do it more often.

"Thanks, Erica," he said, smiling at her and brushing a stray hair out of her eyes. "It's good to know that someone believes in me, because I sure don't."

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!

lil Cwick: Yay! I'm not going to be stabbed with a pitchfork! lol Sorry that you're sick. Hopefully the Mountain Dew and M&Ms will help (but I doubt itlol). I'm glad you like it!

Sexi Silver: Glad your daily dose is fullfilled lol And yay that my writer's block is gone! I hope yours will leave you soon too lol

Wearer of the Black Hat: Yep. Every PR season needs an evil Ranger, right? hehe And no, the Chaos Three couldn't morph before. They aren't Rangers, but now Rufus is. Glad you like it!


	13. Another Day, Another Loss

A/N: Sorry this one took a bit longer. With the holidays and all...yeah, you understand lol. This is one of my better chapters, if I do say so myself hehe

I realized that I keep forgetting to put a disclaimer, so here it goes:

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or anything you recognize. I only own the name, the suits, the basic idea of Light and Dark Elements, the Chaos Three, and the Chaos Ranger, since I made those up. The characters are based on real people who own themselves.

And now, without further ado, I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 13. Enjoy!

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Episode 13: Another Day, Another Loss

Rufus awoke that morning feeling tired and stiff, but, in a strange way, refreshed as well. He guessed that even though his body was exhausted from yesterdays sparring matches with Erica and Stephen, his spirit and his will was replenished. He now had faith and no doubts about his abilities, and he knew that he would easily battle the other Rangers again. All thoughts of his horrific nightmare and losing control vanished from his mind and were replaced with thoughts of his potential victory against the Rangers.

Stretching out his tired, sore limbs, he climbed out of bed and went into the main room, well aware of how early it still was. Not as early as he had woken up yesterday, but still earlier than usual at 7:00am. Not surprisingly, the door to Erica's room was still closed and she was nowhere to be seen, signifying that she must still be asleep. And why shouldn't she be? She had had quite a day yesterday as well sparring against him. Stephen, on the other hand, was already awake and standing in front of a window, gazing out of it with a thoughtful expression on his face. He wore a grin that was all too familiar to Rufus; a grin that showed that he was thinking about or plotting something wicked. Wisely, Rufus decided not to bother him, and he went over to the telescope silently.

Looking down upon the world below through the tiny lens, Rufus saw who he immediately recognized as Will. He was sitting up in his bed in the back room of the Overclocked Café, his face as thoughtful as Rufus' superior. The boy could easily imagine what he must be thinking about. He smiled grimly at the possibility that the two wielders of opposite Fire could be thinking about the same thing, or at least something similar.

Although he would never admit it to anyone, Rufus had noticed, especially lately, many similarities between Will and Stephen. Sure, in Elemental powers and in "sides" as they were the two were polar opposites. But, they shared similar personality traits, similar fighting styles, and a similar will and passion for what they were doing. The Trienith Red Ranger had every reason to hate Stephen the way he did, especially considering the fate of his team at his hands. And the leader of the Chaos Three had equal reasons to hate Will, as it was his fault they had been forced into hiding for all those years and why they had ended up having to leave their planet.

For whatever reason, Rufus couldn't feel the same hatred for Will that his leader felt. Of course, he didn't like him by any meaning of the word, but he felt a strong sense of pity for the man who had lost everything on Trienith: his powers (for a time), his team, and his love…

Rufus' thoughts were interrupted on that last word by a hand resting gently on his shoulder. He tore himself away from the telescope and turned to see Erica standing next to him and smiling at him. He returned the smile and stared for a moment into his companion's eyes. They were full of emotion; past stress, worry, and hurt still haunted them, and the girl they belonged to, he knew. Erica had not and could not forget their past life on Trienith, nor the many painful defeats by the Trienith Rangers they had suffered there. As he put his arm around her shoulder and held her, he decided that she would be his reason to fight. He desired so much for her to have the life they had always dreamed of. That was why he had to defeat the Power Rangers and fulfill the plan Stephen had for them. He wanted to give Erica the world, and if that was the only way he could do it, then so be it. It would be done for Erica.

Jud sat at the kitchen table in Sean's house, watching as his friend got ready for school. Marie was seated next to him, eating a bowl of cereal, fully dressed and ready. When Sean was finished, Jud would have to leave, but for now, the two of them could talk. It was nice, since it had been so long since they had had a chance to really talk like this. But, right now, there was a bit of a lull in the conversation, and a semi-awkward silence passed between them. At last, Jud spoke again, giving his friend a sly look.

"So," he began. "What's the deal with you and Beth?"

Sean started at the question and turned to stare at Jud incredulously. "What do you mean?" he answered after a moment, continuing what he was doing before and looking away from his questioner.

"Well, you obviously have feelings for her." Jud grinned as he waited for him to respond. The White Ranger stopped making his sister's lunch and wheeled around and stared at his friend again, blinking silently at him, his cheeks slowly turning a bright pink under the eyes of Jud and Marie.

With some effort, he spoke again. "Is it really that obvious?" he asked. The two at the table looked at each other, then back at him. They nodded, serious expressions on their faces, although their eyes were brimming with laughter. Sean groaned slightly and sighed, continuing to make Marie's lunch and saying nothing else. There was a moment's silence before Jud spoke again.

"Dude, if you love her, just tell her."

Sean winced, a certain memory flooding his mind. He was glad that he had his back to the others and they couldn't see his face. "I...can't." he said softly, trying to hide the hurt in his voice.

Jud shook his head at him. "Sure you can," he replied with an encouraging tone.

The White Ranger finished what he was doing and came over to the table to sit next to his friend an his sister. "No, I can't," he repeated. "What if she doesn't feel the same way?"

Much to his surprise, Jud laughed at that. "It's obvious that she does, man," he said, patting Sean on the back. Sean looked at him questioningly as his sister nodded.

"Yes, it is," Marie said, laughing a little as well. She went over to the sink to put her bowl in it.

Sean was a bit taken aback. He didn't know what to say to that. Luckily, he didn't have to say anything, because, as Marie reminded him, it was time for them to leave. He sighed with relief as the three of them went out of the house, Sean and his sister to his car, and Jud to his.

"See you after school," the White Ranger called after his friend. Jud nodded, and the three of them went their separate ways.

Stephen came away from the window he had been looking out of and turned to Rufus, grinning. "Are you ready to go against the Power Rangers again today?" he asked, feeling certain of what the answer would be.

The Chaos Ranger nodded. "Of course," he said. "I'm itching for another battle and another chance to defeat them."

"Good." Stephen laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Because I have a plan. We always attack them in the same place, in front of the café. But, today, we're going to do things a little differently. You shall attack their school, and bring some Crodus with you. That will make things more difficult for them, I should say."

The two younger ones looked at each other and smiled.

"Excellent, Stephen," Rufus said. Erica nodded her agreement, but said nothing, secretly wishing that she could go as well and help. She didn't dare ask to do that, though, for fear of how their leader would respond to such a request.

The older boy nodded. "Go ahead and get ready," he ordered. "I'll let you know when the time is right."

Nodding as well, Rufus left and went to his room, followed by Erica. There wasn't much to do to "get ready", so he just sat on his bed to wait. Erica sat next to him and rested her hand on top of his. He smiled at her warmly and brushed a hair out of her eyes with his other hand. Silence filled the room, but it was a content silence and not an uncomfortable one. After a while, though, Erica spoke.

"I wish I could go with you and fight by your side, Rufus," she said, looking away. He nodded.

"So do I," he said. "But, this is something I have to do on my own. Plus, Stephen would never allow it."

"I know," she agreed. "I still wish I could though."

"Yeah." He said nothing more for a few moments, then spoke again. "It won't be much longer, Erica. I feel that soon, I will defeat the Rangers, and we'll be able to fulfill our plan. Then, we can finally have the life we've dreamed of."

Erica nodded silently, but her thoughts told her differently. It wasn't their plan. It was Stephen's. And the result of the plan was not entirely the life she had dreamed of. She wanted to be back home on Trienith, where they belonged, and where she wished to spend the rest of her days with Rufus. But, she knew that that wasn't possible, and that the life they would have if and when the plan succeeded would be infinitely better than the life they had now.

It was lunch time at last, and Peg was relieved. The first four classes of the day had been a bear, and she felt she needed lunch especially today in order to get through her last two classes. Lunch was always so relaxing for her.

As she neared the table where her friends always sat, she suddenly felt a strong blast of Dark Water hit her from behind, causing her to fall forward on her face. She rolled over to see Rufus towering over her, smirking. Taking a few steps back, he prepared to morph as the other students at the school fled quickly, running for the safety of the nearby buildings and classrooms.

"Element, Dark!" he cried, morphing. He prepared to attack Peg again, but before he got a chance, he was hit by Dan's Fire as he and the other Rangers came running up. The Red Ranger helped Peg to her feet gently.

"Are you okay, Peggy?" he asked, concern in his voice. She nodded weakly and glared at the menacing form of the Chaos Ranger.

Tiz glared as well. "Attacking from behind, are we, Rufus?" he asked in a sarcastic voice. "That's very brave of you."

The Chaos Ranger simply laughed at him, the sound dark and evil. "Do you think I care about your opinions of my actions?" He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters now except that we fight. Come on, Rangers," he added, sneering at them. "Morph, and we will begin."

The five of them looked around to make sure that no students were watching them. There were no others in the outdoor quad type area, but they knew that many eyes were probably watching them through the tinted windows of the surrounded buildings. Luckily, they were far enough away from them that the onlookers would not be able to see who they were.

Dan prepared to morph. "Ready, guys?"

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

Now morphed, the Rangers wasted no time as they ran in to attack. Beth and Peg came up on either side of the Chaos Ranger, each aiming a strong kick at him. Rufus could not block both of them, but he could stop one, and he chose Peg, pushing her away before she could hit him. Beth however succeeded in kicking him, which caused him to stumble to the side a bit. It didn't take long for him to recover, and when he did he sent a blast of Dark Fire at the Green Ranger, sending her flying backwards, screaming in pain.

"Beth!" Sean cried, running over to his friend. "Are you okay?" he asked as he helped her stand shakily. She simply nodded in answer, although her helmet hid an expression of pain that showed on her face.

Dan and Tiz ran up to Rufus, kicking his chest in unison. He flew backwards a few feet but did not fall. Glaring at them from under his helmet, he threw his hands forward and shot Dark Thunder at them. Leaping to the side, they dodged the electricity easily as Rufus growled in frustration.

"Two can play at this game," Dan said, smirking at his enemy from under his helmet. With that, he let out a blast of Fire, hitting the Chaos Ranger head on. Rufus fell backwards, struggling to catch his breath after the attack. He stumbled to his feet and shot his own fire at the Red Ranger, hitting him as well. Dan cried out in pain and fell to his knees, wincing.

As Tiz ran over and helped his friend up, Sean turned to face Rufus. "It's my turn now!" he shouted. Putting his hands out in front of him, he formed a somewhat large whirlwind. Sending it over towards the Chaos Ranger, he caught him in the swirling tornado and lifted it high above the ground. After letting him dangle there for a moment, he released him, making him fall towards the dark green grass of the quad area. Rufus screamed fearfully as he plummeted towards the earth. He hit the ground hard and lay there unmoving.

The Power Rangers stopped in their tracks, watching their enemy with anticipation, wondering what he would do next. After a few moments, Rufus stood up painfully, his struggle evident by the shakiness of his motions. He turned towards Sean, his gloved fingers tingling with electricity.

"I must admit that was a good one, White Ranger," he said, pain mixed with anger in his voice. "But it will take more than that to defeat me!" In a sudden movement, he shot out a beam of Dark Thunder, hitting Sean as well as Beth, who was now standing next to him. The two of them let out cries of pain as they flew several feet backwards into the gate that surrounded the nearby swimming pool, electricity still pulsing through their bodies. They collapsed to the ground and demorphed, the pain having been too much for them.

Peg stared wide eyed from her position behind the Chaos Ranger as her friends were hurt. Anger built up in her heart at the boy in front of her, and she glared viciously at him. Calling out her weapon, she ran up to him and slashed him with it across the back several times, not giving him a chance to do anything but scream in agony. At last, she stabbed it directly into the middle of his back, making him fall forward onto his knees.

"No one messes with my friends!" she cried. She was about to swipe her trident across his side when he turned around suddenly and sent a blast of Dark Water at her. She flew backwards and demorphed as well, her trident disappearing from her hands as she lay still.

Rufus stood up and smiled, glad for any amount of revenge he could still get on the Blue Ranger. "Three down," he said, an evil quality in his voice that even he was surprised at. He turned towards Dan and Tiz, who were standing there watching the motionless forms of their friends. "Two to go." With that, he called upon his own weapon and ran over to his somewhat dazed adversaries, jabbing his lance into them sharply.

Quickly recovering from their stunned state, the Red and Yellow Rangers prepared to fight again. They were only momentarily hurt by the lance, and they called upon their own weapons.

"Red Fire Sword!"

"Yellow Thunder Sai!"

Tiz was the first to strike as he slashed Rufus with his sai. He was about to slash again but the Chaos Ranger blocked it with his lance. Dan took the opportunity to slice his sword across Rufus' side, causing him to cry out sharply and almost drop his weapon. The Red Ranger turned to his companion.

"Now, Tiz!" he yelled. The Yellow Ranger nodded, and the two put their weapons away and prepared to attack with their powers. Dan shot out a large burst of Fire towards Rufus and Tiz surrounded it with his Thunder. The two combined Elements hit the Chaos Ranger hard, sending him flying high up and away from them. But, this time, he had an idea. He teleported himself to the ground safely, not allowing himself to take a fall like that again.

Dan sighed in frustration and shook his head. Tiz laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded at him. The two of them ran forward to where Rufus was standing on the other side of the quad. They were about to attack again when the Chaos Ranger thrust both hands out in front of him. He shot Dark Fire out of one hand at Dan and Dark Thunder from the other hand at Tiz, concentrating all of his energy on the attacks.

The two Rangers stopped suddenly as the blasts hit each of them respectively, causing them to fall over and demorph like the others. They lay still next to each other as Rufus watched them eagerly, hoping they would not stand up again. Lifting his hands up to his face, he stared at them, hardly believing the power they had just released.

"I…I did it," he said softly, his voice shaking with disbelief and exhaustion. "I defeated them, at least for today. Another victory for the Chaos Ranger." He smiled at this, knowing that Stephen would be pleased.

Suddenly, he heard an all too familiar voice calling to him from off to the side. Turning to see who it was, he saw Will running up, unmorphed, holding his hands out in front of him.

"That's enough, Oscuro," he said. "You've done enough damage for one day. Go now." His voice was demanding, yet calm, and somehow, Rufus felt inclined to obey. He was ready to go home for the day anyways. But, he couldn't leave with out some sort of remark.

"No problem," he said, with all the sarcasm he could muster. "I'm done for now anyways, since I have once, yet again. This is the second time I've defeated your Rangers, Adus. This team is no stronger than your last one, and I'm sure they'll be destroyed just as easily in the end!" With that, he teleported away back to the tower, leaving the Trienith Red Ranger to stare at the spot where he had been standing.

Rufus appeared back in the main room of the tower, demorphed and panting, his exhaustion now hitting him full on. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest and trying to catch his breath. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Stephen smiling down at him, a look of, it seemed, pride in his face. Was that even possible? Was Stephen proud of him?

"Well done," the leader of the Chaos Three said, helping his companion to his feet. "You've defeated them for a second time today. It won't be long now. Soon, they will be completely destroyed, and then our plans will be fulfilled." His lips curled up in an almost sadistic smirk as he looked away, his thoughts obviously drifting.

After a moment he spoke again, turning back to Rufus. "You must be tired," he said. The younger boy mentally raised his eyebrows, thinking of how much of an understatement that was. "Go and rest. You have certainly earned the right to do that." Patting him on the shoulder, Stephen turned and went out of the room and into his own, shutting the door behind him.

Turning to watch him go, Rufus noticed Erica standing not too far from him, smiling at him. She walked over and hugged him gently, secretly relishing his touch. Wordlessly, she helped him to his bedroom and into his bed. Almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Erica sat at the foot of his bed, her hand resting on his, watching him as he slept. She could hardly believe the power he had shown today, and how badly he had defeated the Rangers. Then again, she knew that he must be thinking the same thing. Smiling, she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his temple, squeezing his hand gently. Then, she stood up and left the room, closing the door, leaving the Chaos Ranger to sleep after the day's battle.

Will sighed as he looked at his team, his friends, who were now seated at their table in the Overclocked Café, trying to recover from their previous battle. He had taken them home after Rufus left, knowing that there was no way they could have gone to their other classes that day. That was an hour ago, and they had woken up at least. That was a good sign, but he knew that their bodies and their spirits were still severely damaged, the latter showing especially in the dejected looks on their faces.

He racked his brain, trying to think of something, anything he could say to bring their morale and their hope back up. But, he knew that that would be a fruitless endeavor. After a defeat like that, only time could heal the negative effect on the heart, as he knew and had experienced so many times back on Trienith. Still, he felt that he had to say something.

"You did well today," he said at last, his voice both firm and soothing. The five teens looked up at him incredulously. "Don't look at me like that," he told them, answering to their disbelieving faces. "It's true. Sure, you suffered a defeat, but you used your powers to the best of your ability and you fought hard. Next time, you will," he paused for a moment thoughtfully, "we will defeat him. Don't let this dampen your spirits."

They each muttered a response before going back to their own thoughts and turning away from him. Will sighed, hoping that what he had said had at least sunk in a little, and at least enough to give them a bit of hope.

A little while later, it became evident that school was out as teenagers began flocking into the café. Sighing, Sean stood up from the table.

"I guess I need to go get Marie," he said tiredly. Beth stood up as well.

"Want me to come with you, Sean?" she asked, trying to conceal the hope in her voice. To her joy, he nodded in agreement, and the two of them set off to Marie's school. Once they had collected her, Sean headed over to Kim's house. As he drove, an idea suddenly came to him.

"Hey, maybe we could invite Kimber to come over to the café with us," he suggested, using the name his sister's babysitter preferred to be called. From her car seat in the back, Marie squealed with excitement, showing her approval vividly. Beth laughed and agreed as well.

"I bet she'd like to get out every once in a while," she said with a smile. "Plus, I'd love to meet her." Sean nodded as they pulled up to her house.

"You two stay here," he said, climbing out of the driver's seat. "I'll be right back." Beth and Marie watched out of their respective windows as Sean went to the door and knocked. They couldn't hear what they were saying, but they could tell by the excited expression on her face that she would be coming with them. Sean and Kimber walked back to the car and the latter sat in the back next to Marie.

"Hello again," she said, smiling at the girl, who returned the greeting enthusiastically. From the front passenger seat, Beth turned around to face Kimber, smiling at her.

"Hello," she said warmly. "My name is Beth." She put a hand out towards her. The girl shook her hand and smiled back at her, introducing herself as well.

"It's nice to meet you," she said. The four of them talked as they headed over to the café. Beth and Sean weren't as talkative as the other two, but they tried their best. It was somewhat hard as they were still upset over their loss that day.

Once they got to the café, they headed inside and over to their table. When they got there, they saw that Angela, Jorge, and Jud were there as well, meaning that they now had a large group. The others looked a bit happier now that their friends were here. It was hard to be sad when Angela was around, as they all knew.

As Sean introduced Kimber to the others, Beth noticed the same strange thing she had thought she had seen the other day. For a split second, she could have sworn that she saw Angela's eyes glow white, Jorge's blue, Jud's green, and now Kimber's yellow. She tried to shake the feeling, knowing that she must just be seeing things. It wasn't possible, was it?

Will smiled as he watched his team, glad that they were happier now with their friends. Hopefully, their spirits weren't permanently damaged from the battle today, and hopefully spending some time with friends would help them get over their loss a bit easier.

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks as Beth, Sean, and Marie entered with Kimber. His eyes fell on the latter as he felt his heart skip a beat. He leaned over behind the counter and clutched at his chest. No. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. Fate really was out to torture him. But, this was just too much.

"Anaia," he breathed, his voice barely audible even to him. Del, who was standing at the counter, looked at him awkwardly.

"Will?" he asked, concern in his voice. "Are you okay?" The Trienith Red Ranger broke out of his thoughts with a start, staring at the boy. His face showed that he was internally writhing in agony as he shook his head at Del's question, closing his eyes and turning away.

"No," he said painfully. "I don't think I am." He looked back up at his employee, giving him an almost pleading glance. "Del, do you think you could take over for a little while?" he asked, the words sounding painful and forced. "Perhaps Beth can help or something. But I need to go lie down…" His voice trailed off as Del nodded.

"Sure, I can do that," he said gently. He didn't know what was wrong with his boss and friend, but it was obvious that he was in no condition to work right now.

Whispering his thanks, Will made his way into the back room, collapsing onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, his face scrunched up in pain.

"Anaia," he whispered. "That girl…she looks just like her. But it can't be. I watched her die in that last attack by Stephen. I watched her disappear as she was destroyed. How could that be her?" He closed his eyes and tried to control his emotions. "It's not. It's not her. She just looks like her. Fate is focusing all its efforts on torturing me. It's my fault that the others are gone, and now fate wants me to suffer because of that." His hand went to his head as he tried to focus himself, telling himself that it was just a coincidence.

"But no," he said aloud, talking to nothing but the shadows in the corners. "It can't be a coincidence, can it? All four of my former team mates are now out in the café, or at least people who look exactly like them in every way. But how is that possible? Even if they were somehow alive, surely they would have aged as well. They should be as old as I am, right?" Tears began to well up in his eyes and roll down his cheeks, his pain intensifying with each one, it seemed.

"Anaia…" he breathed yet again. "She looks just like you. But you are gone forever, I know. The world is playing tricks on me. It's paying me back for allowing you to die. I should have saved you. I should have stopped Stephen. I should have been the one to die in his attack, not you or the others. Especially not you, Anaia, my love."

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A/N: Well, apparently I can't do review responses in my chapters anymore, which bites majorly. Oh, well. I hope it won't discourage you guys from reviewing! If you have any questions or anything I'll send you a private message or whatever back, but otherwise I probably won't.

I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	14. Small Victory At Last

A/N: This one didn't take too long. It's a pretty good episode if I do say so myself! lol. And I see I'm getting less reviews now. I'm guessing it's partially because I can't respond to them in here. Oh, well. Please review, though, guys! Your comments mean a lot to me!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. The characters are based on real people who own themselves.

And now, without further ado, I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 14. Enjoy!

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Episode 14: Small Victory at Last

Will opened his eyes slowly, the lids feeling heavy and weighed down. Glancing at the clock next to his bed, he saw that it was 7:34 am. Today was Saturday, he knew. It had been three days since the Ranger's last battle with the Chaos Ranger, and three days since he had seen that girl who looked so much like Anaia…

He shuddered automatically at that thought, trying to block it from his mind. He had already suffered enough because of it these past few days, and he knew that he should try not to let it get to him so much. If he wasn't careful, his guilt and his memories would destroy him.

Suddenly, another thought came to him that made his heart skip a beat. Ever since he had first awoken he had felt that today was not an ordinary day. There was something special about it, although he couldn't put his finger on what it was. But, now, he realized exactly what today was. It was an anniversary; a horrible, painful one, but an anniversary all the same. He closed his eyes again as the thought of what had happened on this day 18 years ago flooded his mind. This was the 18th anniversary of the last battle with the Chaos Three on Trienith, and it was on this day 18 years ago that Stephen had killed Will's team mates and friends. 18 years ago that Stephen himself had been defeated, but still 18 years ago, he told himself, that he had let his friends die.

Stephen awoke with an unusually happy and evil smirk on his face. His heart felt light and happy, and it fluttered slightly with excitement. Today was a special day, he knew. Although it was the anniversary of his horrible defeat by the Trienith Red Ranger, today signified something great as well. Yes, he thought. Today would be a good day, no matter what.

Stretching and yawning a little, Stephen climbed out of his bed and went out into the main room of the tower, the same satisfied expression on his face. Not surprisingly, Rufus was already awake, and he stood gazing out of a window at the world below, watching as the sun continued to rise on the eastern horizon. The older boy laughed internally, knowing that neither of his companions had any idea of what would happen this day. It was a secret he had kept for 18 years, but now, when the time was right, it would be fully revealed.

As Stephen made his way to the telescope, Erica came out, the sleepiness still evident in her face. She crossed the room quickly and stood next to Rufus, looking up into his eyes and smiling. The boy put an arm around her shoulder and smiled back down at her before the two of them turned back to the window. The tower filled with a peaceful silence, until at last it was broken by Erica.

"You guys know what today is, right?" It was more of a statement than a question, and the girl already knew the answer.

"Of course," Stephen responded, turning to look at the two of them. "Today is very special."

"You mean very horrible," Rufus remarked pointedly, facing his leader.

Stephen tried not to show the excitement and anticipation that was burning in his heart. "Well, yes," he said simply, turning back to the telescope. "But we shouldn't think about it that way." A tell-tale grin spread across his face as he said this, and he was glad that his team mates could not see his face. Rufus and Erica exchanged confused glances, each wondering what he meant by that.

After a moment, Rufus shrugged, deciding that they would find out what he meant in time.

Erica continued to watch Stephen curiously, unable to imagine what was going through his mind right now. Even though she had known him for so many years, he was still such a mystery to her. She never really understood his reasoning in certain things, and it was hard to ever tell what he was really thinking. Some people Erica found easy to read, such as Rufus, or at least most of the time. But, she had never been able to read Stephen or figure out the thoughts behind his words. He was so strangely mysterious that Erica felt she couldn't entirely trust him. She tried to ignore the feeling, but it left a sense of uneasiness and foreboding on her heart.

Dan smiled as he looked around at the extremely crowded table. Along with himself and his four team mates, Angela, Jorge, Jud, Kimber, and Marie were all seated around him, all talking at once, it seemed. Even Del was standing near them, talking with them as well. There were many different conversations going on at the same time, which made sense since there were so many people there. The Red Ranger didn't mind, though. He loved the feeling of chaos that existed in such a small and noisy area, crowded with people he considered friends, although he knew some of them better than others.

As Dan held Peg next to him in his arms, he took it all in, enjoying the moment of peace. Of course, the table was anything but peaceful, but compared to the horrific battles they had fought lately against the Chaos Three, this was the epitome of peace, he thought. Being a Ranger was the hardest thing he had ever done, but, still, he wouldn't have it any other way. As difficult and seemingly impossible as it was at times, he had to admit that he enjoyed the challenge and excitement of this new life, especially since Tempus, California was normally such a boring town.

Beth sat next to Dan and Peg on their side of the table, smiling at her friends but not really joining in on any of the conversations. She had a feeling of strange unrest, but she couldn't explain why even to herself. Something seemed off somehow. She didn't know what or why, but she couldn't shake the thought that something was wrong. Glancing across the café at Will, she could almost sense that he was feeling the same thing, or at least something similar, although she couldn't really see his face. She sighed, trying again to rid herself of these thoughts.

The Green Ranger looked around at Angela, Jorge, Jud, and Kimber in turn. She remembered what she had seen or thought she had seen in their eyes the other day, and she couldn't help but think that that might have something to do with her odd feelings now. Suddenly, as if in response to her thought, she noticed their eyes glow again for a split second, the same colors they had glowed the day before. Then, much to the surprise of the others, the four of them stood up all at once and wordlessly left the café. A confused silence filled the table as the five Rangers watched them go. At last, Tiz spoke.

"Well, that was weird," he said, looking around at his team mates.

"Yeah," Peg said. "What the heck was that about?"

"I don't know," Dan replied, standing. "But I'm going to find out." Peg, Sean, and Tiz nodded and stood up as well, intending to follow him. Beth stayed where she was, staring blankly at the now empty table, her brow wrinkled in thought. Sean went over behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Beth, are you okay?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Shaking her head as if breaking out of her thoughts, she looked up at him.

"I'm not sure," she said, softly and slowly. The others stopped and were now eying her curiously as well. "I just have the strangest feeling…" Suddenly, her voice was cut off by a small explosion coming from outside of the café. Pausing for a moment to look around at each other, the Rangers nodded and ran outside, followed by Del and Will, who had leapt over the counter and was now coming with them.

When the seven of them got outside, they saw to their annoyance, but not really surprise, the menacing form of the Chaos Ranger, pointing his lance at a pile of smoldering rubble that was once a car. Del stood near the door of the café while the Rangers continued on towards their enemy.

"Oscuro!" Will called. At the sound of his Trienith name, Rufus turned around to face him, smirking from under his helmet. "What are you doing here today of all days?" Will continued. "Don't you know what today is?"

The other Rangers exchanged questioning glances, wondering what he was talking about. What was so special about today?

Rufus scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Of course I do," he replied hotly. "Do you really think I could forget a thing like that? I just thought it would be fitting to have today be the day of your defeat, since it was the day of another defeat 18 years ago on Trienith." His voice faltered a little, but he quickly regained his composure and continued. "You may have defeated us then, but I will defeat you now!"

With that, he dashed over to the Rangers, darting quickly in between them, stabbing at them with his lance each in turn as he came near them. Sparks flew from their bodies as they cried out in pain each time they were hit. Eventually, he stopped this attack and stood on the other side of them, watching as they collapsed to the ground.

"Ha," he laughed. "That was easy." But, moments later, the six Rangers struggled to their feet, the pain mixed with determined looks in their faces.

"Yeah right," Tiz said. "You won't get us that easily."

Dan took a step forward and looked around at his team. "We can take him, guys." The others nodded at this, their confidence showing in their expressions. "Ready?" the Red Ranger cried.

"Ready!" his team mates responded.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!" Will finished with his morphing call, and the six of them morphed into their respective colors, becoming the Element Storm Power Rangers once more. They stood in fighting positions, ready to attack.

Rufus was grateful that his helmet hid the disappointed look on his face as he sighed softly. IOh, well/I, he thought. II should have known it wouldn't be that easy./I He decided that he should at least be the first to attack, so he charged at them with his lance, preparing to strike. He went up to Will first and tried to slash him with the lance, but the Trienith Red Ranger deflected the attack with his sword, which he pulled out quickly. Pushing back against the lance, he forced Rufus back, then sliced him sideways across the chest with his sword. The Chaos Ranger keeled over a little and clutched the area where he had just been attacked.

The others took this opportunity to call their own weapons and move in. Beth went first and stabbed him in the sides with her daggers. Peg came in next and jabbed the tip of her trident into his back. Tiz slashed his sai against the Chaos Ranger's chest, making sparks fly from his suit. Dan and Will used their swords at the same time, cutting them down from the tops of his arms to the base of his hips, causing him to fall backwards in pain.

Growling a little in anger, Rufus stood up quickly and swung his lance around, hitting all of the Rangers who now surrounded him. They fell backwards from the force, giving Rufus a chance to take a few steps backwards and out of the way. The Rangers got up fast as well and prepared to fight again. Before they got a chance to do anything, though, The Chaos Ranger pointed his lance at them, shooting a strong pulse of electricity out of it and hitting them all at once, sending them flying back and hitting the ground hard again.

While this was happening, something else was going on at the back of the café, hidden from view. Angela, Jorge, Jud, and Kim were standing there, a silence between them as they looked around at each other. Jud was the first to speak.

"Guys, I remember," he said, a strange and somewhat confused quality to his voice.

Angela nodded. "So do I," she agreed. "I remember that we are not from this planet. I remember we came from somewhere else. I remember Trienith."

"Me too," Kimber agreed, shivering slightly. "We were Rangers there. We had the powers of the Elements. We had entirely different names." She paused for a second. "Guys, what happened to us?"

For a moment no one spoke, as no one seemed to have an answer. The silence pierced the darkness of the alley between the café and the building behind it as the four of them tried to think.

"I think I know," Jorge said at last. "That huge attack by Pyric is the last thing I remember of Trienith. After that, everything is pretty much a blur until I remember my childhood here. I don't know what he did, but Pyric used some sort of spell on us."

Jud looked at him curiously. "What sense does that make?" he asked. "What kind of spell?"

Jorge shook his head. "Not sure, but that's the only logical explanation I can come up with. I mean, we all remember that we used to live on Trienith as its Power Rangers, but then we somehow ended up here as children. I don' know how that is possible, but whatever happened, it is most certainly Pyric's fault."

"You're probably right, Feanaro," Angela said, leaning a bit closer to Jorge, who put his arms around her. "It's the only thing that makes any sense."

There was another moment of silence before Kimber spoke again.

"Wow, I wonder if this happened to Adus as well."

Jud shook his head. "No, it didn't. I saw him the day I first came here. He lives here on Earth and owns this café. I know it didn't happen to him too because he is like twice our age, it seems." He thought for a second before going on. "I believe Sean called him Will. He must have taken a different name when he came here."

"I suppose that would make sense, Cirin," Kimber said slowly. "But if that is true, we need to go talk to him and tell him what happened. He must have recognized us when he saw us."

"You're right, Anaia," Angela said. "We have to talk to him." All of a sudden, a deep, evil laugh sounded from the midst of the darkness of the alley. The four teens stepped back a bit, automatically getting into defensive positions. Jorge moved in front of Angela protectively as the stared at the space where the laughter had come from.

Footsteps echoed in the alley as Stephen suddenly appeared, seeming to melt in out of the shadows. An evil grin was spread across his face as he watched them.

"Feanaro, Alassea, Cirin, Anaia, it's been so long."

The six Rangers stood up painfully, the electricity still coursing through their bodies. Tiz was not as affected by it, so he was the first to recover.

"My turn!" he cried, pointing his sai at Rufus. He sent his own surge of Thunder through it and out towards the Chaos Ranger, who dove out of the way of the blast.

"You missed me!" Rufus laughed, his tone mocking and sarcastic.

Beth glared at him from under her helmet. "But I won't!" she said. Focusing hard, she lifted up a large chunk of earth from the small hill near the café and threw it at her enemy. It hit him head on and covered him in the earthy debris. He screamed in pain, then all was silent for a moment. Soon, though, a white glove forced its way through the earth, then another. It wasn't long before the Chaos Ranger climbed entirely out of the earth his body still tingling with pain. He stood shakily, trying to recover from the attack.

After a moment, he dashed over to Beth quickly, pounding his lance into her. She collapsed in pain and let out a small cry. Rufus leaned over her and prepared to strike again. But, before he got a chance, Sean shot him with one of his arrows, hitting him in the back hard. As he ran over to them, he shot several more arrows at the Chaos Ranger, at last forcing him away from Beth, who had not gotten up yet. The White Ranger shot one final arrow at Rufus before setting his bow down and helping Beth to her feet.

"Thank you, Sean," she said, her smile hidden beneath the visor of her helmet. He simply nodded and turned back to their enemy. The other Rangers ran up to them as well. Dan looked over to Tiz.

"Hey, how about some double teaming?" His voice showed that he was smiling, and the Yellow Ranger nodded.

"All right. Let's go!" With that, the two of them charged at Rufus with their weapons, sword and sai ready to strike. They each slashed the Chaos Ranger on either side in the front, then they twisted around and cut their weapons across his back. They were about to strike again when Rufus blocked them with his lance, each of their weapons touching its broad side. As he forced them away, he sent a surge of electricity through the handle, making it circuit through the lance and through his enemies' weapons into their bodies. Dan and Tiz flew backwards a ways, landing on their feet not too far from him, the Dark Thunder still coursing through them. Tiz recovered quickly and sent his own Thunder at Rufus, who dove out of the way.

Dan looked around at his team mates. "Guys, it's going to take more than this to defeat him," he said thoughtfully, pausing for a moment. "Hmm. I think I have an idea."

Jud glared at the boy before him. "Pyric," he said, his teeth clenched in anger. "I see you're still around."

"Of course I am," he said, a tone of mock surprise in his voice. "I may have suffered a defeat on Trienith, but I was not completely destroyed."

Angela laughed a little. "But you were defeated, eh? Not too surprising. I guess even without the rest of us Will was too much for you."

Kimber held a hand towards Angela, silencing her gently. "What did you do to us, Pyric?" she asked almost breathlessly.

Stephen laughed again as well, the dark, eerie sound echoing through the alley. "I was wondering when you would ask that. It's quite simple, really, but quite a bit of genius on my part. You see, I used a powerful spell on you, one that took me quite a while to learn. I'm sure that the last thing you remember from your lives on Trienith is a massive attack by me. It was that attack that did the spell exactly as I planned. Everyone thought that the attack had destroyed you. Will, Raine, Oscuro, they all thought that I had destroyed you. But, they were wrong.

"In reality, you were still alive, but no longer on that planet. The spell I used sent you to the nearest inhabited planet, which was Earth. But, not as the ages you were then. You appeared on this planet as babies, infants, newborns. I made sure to send you particularly to an area where you would be found and adopted, and where, hopefully, you would remain close together, even if you didn't know each other personally. And it worked, because here you are.

"And now, exactly eighteen years later, you all remember your lives on Trienith, the lives you have had no memories of all these years you've spent here. The reason it all happened specifically eighteen years later is because you were all eighteen at the time you were sent here and your lives were restarted. Now, you've gained all your memories back, and your powers." He paused, letting his words sink in.

"Why did I do that, you ask?" he continued, a dark quality to his voice. "I knew that I would be defeated that day. There was no way that the Chaos Three would last another battle on Trienith. I knew that our plans would not yet be achieved. But, I also knew that doing what I did would give me a chance in the future. Sure, I have had to wait eighteen years for this, but it is all worth it, because now, I have four perfect weapons against the current team of Rangers, and that is you four."

The others looked around at each other, hardly able to believe their ears. Was what he said really possible? How could it be? But, it was the only thing that made any sense. How else could they have ended up here and lived here for 18 years? And what did he mean by having four weapons? So many questions flooded their minds at once, but only one was actually asked at that moment.

"If it has been eighteen years," Angela began slowly. "How is it that you look exactly the same age as you did when we had our last battle? You should be at least as old as Will."

Stephen chuckled a little. "That's easy," he said. "Knowing it would take so very long for you four to be ready, I preserved our ages; Raine, Oscuro, and I are exactly the same age we were eighteen years ago on Trienith. I put a spell on us that would keep us the ages we are now until you got your memories back. Since that has happened now, we will begin to age normally again, although we won't go to the ages we were before."

Angela looked away, understanding. Her mind was still full of questions, but it was Jud who spoke next.

"And what did you mean by the last thing you said, Pyric?" he asked, looking at Stephen curiously and suspiciously. "You don't have us. Whoever the new Power Rangers are, we won't help you fight them."

"Of course not," Jorge agreed. "We'll help them fight you."

The leader of the Chaos Three laughed yet again. "That's what you think," he said. "I have yet to initiate the final part of my plan. But, now that you know everything, it is time." With that, he formed a circle with his hands. Suddenly, a ball of light appeared in the center, gradually growing larger and larger until he had to spread his hands out farther to hold it. Once it was big enough, he shot it at the four teens before him. They screamed and flew backwards, hitting the ground hard. After a moment, they got up again and stood in a line, facing him. Their hands clenched at their sides and their faces hardened, all emotion draining from their expressions as their eyes began to glow their respective colors.

"We are ready to serve you, Master," they said in unison, their voices blank and toneless. A wicked grin spread across Stephen's face as he looked at them each in turn.

"Perfect."

"Guys," Dan continued. "Maybe if we combine our weapons, we can defeat him! It's been a long time since we've done that."

Will nodded. "You may be right, Dan," he said. "You guys should try that." The others nodded as well and they prepared to put their weapons together. The Red Ranger held his sword out in front of him as Peg laid her trident on top. Sean placed his bow sideways across sideways near the top. Beth attached her daggers on the underside of the bow, the blades facing towards Dan. At last, Tiz put his sai on the top of the bow, the hilt facing backwards.

"Alright!" Dan cried. The others stood behind him, focusing their energies on the weapon. "Ready. Aim. Fire!" With the last word, the Red Ranger released a powerful blast from the weapon, which burst out towards the Chaos Ranger and hit him head on. He flew backwards, screaming in agony, until he hit a nearby telephone pole and collapsed to the ground, demorphing.

Struggling painfully to look up at them, Rufus sighed. "You've beaten me today, Rangers, but don't get used to it!" Reaching his hand up above him, he teleported away in a flash of yellow.

"That was awesome!" Tiz said with a smile as he demorphed. "We haven't used that weapon in a while, and it really did the trick."

"Yep," Peg smiled, demorphing as well and putting her arms around the Red Ranger, who had already powered down. "That was a great idea, Dan," she added, looking up at him.

"I know," he said, beaming. "I'm so cool." He laughed at this and the other joined him as Will walked up to them.

"Excellent job, Rangers," he said. "You have won for today, and let's hope that we will have several more victories like this one."

As Rufus appeared in the main room of the tower, he forced himself to stand, hardly able to do so. Erica ran over to him and helped him, letting him lean on her. He smiled at her gratefully until he noticed the strange expression on her face.

"Erica, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"It's Stephen," she answered with a sigh. "Come and see." Carefully leading him with her, Erica walked over to another door that branched out of the room. She knew that it led to a room that Stephen often used for things that he would never tell his team mates about, but she also knew that it was where he was now.

As they entered slowly, Rufus saw right away what Erica had been concerned about. Standing next to Stephen, with eyes glowing the colors they had once worn, were four of the Trienith Rangers. Staring at them each in turn, he remembered their names and Ranger colors. Feanaro, the Trienith Blue Ranger, Alassea, the Trienith White Ranger, Cirin, the Trienith Green Ranger, and Anaia, the Trienith Yellow Ranger. Rufus felt his heart skip a beat. How was this possible? He had watched Stephen destroy them 18 years ago. How in the world could they be here now?

As the leader of the Chaos Three turned to look at the newcomers, Rufus began to feel faint, both from the difficulty of his battle and the shock of what he was now seeing. After a moment, he couldn't take anymore, and he collapsed backwards into Erica's arms, unconscious.

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	15. The Trienith Rangers part 1

A/N: So sorry this took so long, guys! I know it's not long according to some others, but it's long for me lol Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. It's fun. And a cliffhanger! w00t!

It seems like people are losing interest in this fanfic. I haven't been getting many reviews latelysigh Oh, well. Even if people don't read it anymore, I'll still finish it, since I have the rest planned out. Please post a review, guys. Even if it's like "Nice chapter, update soon" or something. It means a lot to me to just know that people are still reading this.

And now, without further ado I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 15. Enjoy!

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Episode 15: The Trienith Rangers Part 1

Rufus awoke, his eyes opening slowly as his hand went automatically to his head, which was aching severely. Looking around, he found that he was in his bed, most likely Erica's doing. The latter was now sitting in a chair next to him, leaning over onto the bed, now sleeping herself. The boy smiled at her and stroked her hair gently for a moment before climbing out of bed, being careful not to wake her.

His thoughts roamed back to the events of yesterday. He had been defeated by the Rangers, which was of course horrible for him. But, that wasn't the strangest thing that had happened the day before. Walking quietly out into the other room, he saw immediately that strange thing that had caused him to pass out yesterday. Four of the Trienith Rangers, their one time enemies on their home planet, stood at attention in the center of the main room as Stephen stood near them, talking. Rufus could not hear exactly what he was saying, but he didn't care. All he cared about was knowing what in the world was going on.

"Feanaro, Cirin, Alassea, Anaia…" He practically breathed out their names as he looked at each of them in turn. Finally, he tore his eyes away from them and looked at his leader. "Stephen, what is…what are…how are they here? How is this possible? I saw you destroy them…"

His words were cut of from a laugh from Stephen. The Trienith Rangers, who were now in more normal positions, laughed as well.

"Destroy them?" The leader of the Chaos Three sounded almost shocked that Rufus had said that, although the younger boy could tell that he was being sarcastic. "No, I could never do that. Destroy such power when it can be used to help us achieve our goals? Never."

"But, that last blast, on Trienith, they were gone after it hit…" Rufus continued, his confusion evident in his voice.

"Yes, they were gone, but not destroyed, by any means." As Stephen said this, he walked over to Rufus, an almost sickening smile on his face as he put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Come. I will explain everything."

He proceeded to do just that, telling Rufus exactly what he had told the Trienith Rangers themselves yesterday. When he was finished, Rufus just stared at him in shock, hardly believing what he had just heard. Stephen noticed his look of disbelief and he smiled at it.

"Oh, it's all true," he said, sounding very pleased with himself. "I never told you or Erica because I didn't want to get your hopes up about this, but now you know." Walking back over to the four teens, he turned to face Rufus. "I think I'll send down my new Rangers today. They can prove their worth by destroying Adus and the Earth Rangers for us. Ah, yes," he added, looking back at the Trienith Rangers. "Today will be a good day."

The sun shone brightly in the cloudless spring sky, warming the world below it with its powerful rays. In the large, spacious park near the kindergarten, children ran and played in the grass and on the swing sets while parents sat nearby and watched. It was after school for most kids, so the park was rather crowded. This didn't bother Beth and Sean as they strolled side by side along one of the paths that led around the grassy area of the park. They had just dropped Marie off at her afternoon kindergarten, and they decided to go for a walk before heading over to the café to meet their friends. They were silent right now, neither one really knowing what to say.

After a while, Sean stopped suddenly and turned to face Beth, who stopped as well. He looked down into her eyes as he brushed a stray hair out of her face gently. Biting his lip and thinking for a moment, he spoke at last.

"Beth, we've been friends for a long time now, and…there's something I've been meaning to tell you," he began, trying not to show his nervousness in his voice. The girl in front of him looked at him expectantly, her eyes shining with anticipation. "Bethy, I…I…" But, before he had a chance to finish, a large group of Crodus appeared around them. Sean sighed loudly as the two of them jumped into fighting positions. "These guys just have perfect timing, don't they?"

Beth nodded grimly, and the two began to fight. As a Crodu approached her, Beth kicked it away into another near it, turning immediately to punch another one to the side of her. Running towards one, she flipped over it and kicked backwards, sending it flying onto its face. Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind by one of the Crodus, but she bent down and flipped it over her shoulder, punching it in the chest as it landed on its back. Before she had a chance to block it, another Crodu came and kicked her hard in the side, making her fall over in pain.

Sean ran in towards the Crodus surrounding him and did a roundhouse kick to the chest of the nearest one. He elbowed backwards into one he sensed behind him, then he did a back flip over it and pushed it into others before him. While he was doing that, a Crodu came from behind and kicked him in the back, making him fall forwards. Before he could get up, the Crodus began viciously attacking him. After a moment, he sent out a strong blast of wind, making his enemies fly away from him. Taking the opportunity to stand, he decided they needed some help.

Using his morpher as a communication device, he called the Trienith Red Ranger. "Will, Beth and I are being attacked by Crodus at the park. We need your help."

"On our way, Sean." Will's voice sounded blurred and tinny through the morpher, but it was enough to reassure the White Ranger.

Beth had not gotten up yet from when she had been kicked to the ground before, being unable to do so because of the reign of attacks by the surrounding Crodus. Sean noticed this and ran over towards her, causing another strong blast of wind to get rid of the Crodus. He reached down and helped her up gently. The two exchanged an almost shy smile for a moment before looking away.

"Hey, maybe we should morph," Beth suggested, glad that they were far away from the jungle gym where most of the people were. Sean nodded.

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

The now morphed Rangers continued to fight the Crodus until they heard a familiar voice call out their names. Turning to look, they saw Dan Peg, Tiz, and Will running over to them. It was obvious that the Red Ranger had been the one to speak. As they came up, he spoke again.

"Ready, guys?" The others nodded, and they prepared to morph.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

As soon as they were morphed, the Rangers moved in on the Crodus, helping their friends fight. Dan went for two Crodus who were currently attacking Beth and he grabbed their shoulders, yanking them back towards him. He kicked backwards at them as they fell over hard. Beth nodded her thanks and the two of them continued to fight.

Will saw that there were still three Crodus on the other side of Beth, looking as if they were about to grab her. Neither the Green or Red Ranger noticed this, it seemed. The Trienith Red Ranger ran quickly over to Beth, flipping over her and onto to the Crodus who were attempting to attack her. As the four bodies collapsed to the ground, Will rolled off of the Crodus and stood up, shooting a blast of Light Fire at them before they had a chance to do the same. As Beth saw what had happened, she called out a thanks to Will, who nodded before continuing to fight.

Not too far away, Peg and Tiz ran over to the large circle of Crodus around Sean, who was trying desperately to fight them off, beginning to feel exhausted from his efforts. In unison, the Blue and Yellow Rangers flipped over the heads of two of the Crodus, landing in the circle next to their friend.

"Are you okay, Sean?" Tiz asked, having to yell over the sounds of battle. The White Ranger nodded.

"Good timing, guys," he said, his smile showing in his voice. The three Rangers moved towards the edges of the circle around them and began to fight away the Crodus forming it. Peg kicked one of the Crodus in the shin, making it trip forwards into her arms. She caught its hands and swung it around, hitting the other nearby Crodus and causing them to them to tumble over like bowling pins.

On the other side of the now diminishing circle, Tiz stood facing the three Crodus who were focusing on him, the smirk on his face hidden by the visor on his helmet. Holding his hands out a few inches in front of him, he sent small bolts of Thunder out from his fingertips, shooting straight towards the Crodus. The electricity jolted through them, making them writhe in pain before at last collapsing to the ground, motionless.

Next to him, Sean decided to use his Element again too. He put his hands out in front of him as the four Crodus that faced him stood staring, prepared to fight. The White Ranger formed a small tornado behind them where they could not see it, then he began slowly drawing it towards them.

"Hey," he said to his enemies, trying to hide the laughter in his voice. "Look out behind you!" After glancing at each other, confused, the Crodus turned around to see the ever growing tornado coming closer and closer to them. Before they had a chance to run, they were swept up in the powerful winds, spinning around with the twister. Sean lifted them high into the air with his tornado, at last dropping them when he figured they were high enough.

As they fell to the ground, they seemed to dissipate in a mist of purple. Looking around, Sean and the other Rangers saw that all the Crodus were disappearing in the same way. Soon, there was no trace of the strange creatures to be seen.

Demorphing, the six Rangers grouped together. Beth was panting a little, still really tired from the long fight. She leaned against Sean, who now stood next to her. Smiling, he put his arm around her almost automatically.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Beth asked, trying to hide her happiness at the position she was now in.

"I don't know," Will answered grimly. "But I have a feeling that that was probably just a prelude to something bigger. The Chaos Three rarely send down just Crodus to attack without having some bigger plan. We need to keep our eyes open."

Dan nodded. "Yes, we do," he agreed. "But, whatever they have planned, I hope they do it soon. I don't like this feeling of foreboding."

Suddenly, as if right on cue because of what Dan said, an explosion went off behind them. Turning to look, the six Rangers saw the last thing they expected to see at that moment. As the dust and fire from the explosion cleared, four familiar people were seen walking towards them slowly, strange, eerie grins on their faces. When they were close enough to be in earshot, Peg was the first to speak.

"Angela? Jorge?" Her voice was full of confusion and uncertainty. Sean spoke next, echoing the inflections in her voice.

"Jud? Kimber?" He looked at his friends curiously, wondering what in the world was going on.

Suddenly, much to the surprise of the six people watching, Jud began to laugh, an evil, dark sounding laugh that seemed to ricochet off of the surrounding trees.

"Those are the names you have known us by," he said, his voice sounding evil and deep, unlike his normal, cheerful voice that Sean knew so well. It sent a chill up the White Ranger's spine. "But they are not our real names," he continued, his eyes falling on Sean as he noticed his reaction. "We are not only the people you know us as. We are also the Trienith Power Rangers."

Hearing this, Will almost collapsed, unable to believe that this was true. At the moment, he could not even speak as he continued to stare unbelievingly at his former team mates.

The next person who spoke was Jorge, who had an evil grin spread across his face. "My real name is Feanaro, and I am the Trienith Blue Ranger." He then turned to Angela, who stood next to him.

"I am Alassea, the Trienith White Ranger," she said, turning to Jud.

"I am Cirin, the Trienith Green Ranger." He turned at last to Kimber, who looked specifically at Will as she spoke.

"And I am Anaia, the Trienith Yellow Ranger."

At last, Will found the strength to say something, his eyes glued on Kimber. "H…how is this possible?" he asked, his voice soft and breathy. "I saw Pyric destroy you on Trienith. All of you…" he added, looking around at his other former team mates.

Jorge was the one who answered. Before he did, though, he let out a hideous laugh. "Ah, this is where we see the genius of Stephen, our master." Will's heart skipped a beat as he heard the last two words, but he said nothing, dying to know how they had survived. Jorge proceeded to explain everything that he had been told the day before by Stephen, emphasizing and reiterating Stephen's "genius" as he called it. The six Rangers across from him could only stare in awe, hardly believing what they were hearing.

After a long silence that seemed like an eternity, Will spoke again, the words coming out slowly and painfully. "So…You've been alive all this time, and here on Earth. You've been living entirely new lives, not knowing anything about your past life on Trienith. And now, Stephen must have you under his control." He paused, looking away for a moment before turning back to the Trienith Rangers. "Guys, don't follow him. He's evil. He's the one who did this to you. It's his fault…"

Suddenly, he was cut off by a stream of electricity hitting him in the chest. Kimber stood directly across from him now, holding her hand out towards him, her fingers still tingling with the aftermath of her attack.

"No, Adus," she said, her voice sounding cold. "It's not Stephen's fault. It's yours. You didn't save us. You didn't protect us from his attack. You were our leader, and you should have stopped him. It's all your fault."

A shudder of guilt flowed through Will's body as he closed his eyes, unable to fight back the tears that were forming. "I know," he said softly, hanging his head. "I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. I…"

"Exactly," Angela said. "You couldn't. You were too weak, and you still are. Now you must suffer for letting this happen to us."

Jud took a step forward. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready!" they answered in unison.

"Element, Light Water!"

"Element, Light Wind!"

"Element, Light Earth!"

"Element, Light Thunder!"

Doing their morphing motion, the four of them morphed into the Trienith Rangers. Grinning from under his helmet and folding his hands across his chest, Jud stepped forward a bit more.

"This is your fault, Will, so now you and your Rangers will pay!" With that, he called out his weapon, daggers similar to Beth's but a bit lighter in color. The Trienith Green Ranger rushed towards his Earth counterpart and slashed her viciously with the daggers. She flew backwards into Sean, knocking him over and landing on top of him. She had twisted around in mid air, so now she was lying on top of him on her stomach, still wincing from the pain. When she realized where she was, she blushed reflexively and stood up quickly, cringing from the pain. Tiz reached down to help Sean up, and then the three of them turned back to the Trienith Rangers.

Will put his hands out towards the four Rangers before him. "Stop," he said in a demanding and firm voice. "Your problem is with me, not them. Leave them out of this!"

Kimber laughed a little. "No can do, Adus," she said, her smirk evident in her voice. "We have orders from Stephen to destroy you: All six of you. And we must obey our leader." Pulling out a sai much like Tiz's, she sent out from the tip a powerful blast of Light Thunder, striking the Yellow Ranger head on. He stumbled back a few steps, surprised by the power of the attack. He hadn't expected Light Thunder to be so powerful against him since Dark Thunder was the opposite.

Shaking off the pain, he grinned at Kimber. "Two can play at this game, girly," he said. "Guys, it looks like we're going to have to fight them," he added, turning to his team mates. "Let's morph." The others nodded grimly.

"Ready?" Dan cried.

"Ready!" the five voices called out together.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

Will hesitated a moment, unwilling to purposely fight the people who had once been so close to him. Sighing, he knew that he had no choice, and he would have to fight them.

"Element, Light Fire!" The Trienith Red Ranger finished the morphing call, and all six Rangers morphed into their respective colors.

"Might as well call out our weapons, guys," Dan suggested. They others nodded.

"Red Fire Sword!"

"Blue Water Trident!"

"White Wind Bow!"

"Green Earth Daggers!"

"Yellow Thunder Sai!"

"Light Fire Sword!"

The Ranger's weapons appeared in their hands and they got into fighting positions. Will sighed deeply before running in to attack, motioning for the others to follow. He went first for Jud, trying to slash him with his sword. Jud blocked it with his trident and threw Will backwards. The Trienith Red Ranger fell on his back, and Jud took the opportunity to stab at Will's chest with his trident. Sparks flew off of his suit as he was struck repeatedly with the tip of the trident. After a few painful moments, Will was able to kick Jud's shins, causing him to topple over in pain. Getting up quickly, he waited for the Trienith Green Ranger to stand before attacking him again. As soon as Jud was on his feet, Will slashed his sword across his chest, causing sparks to fly from his suit. Then, he pushed forward and made Jud fall over again.

Peg stared painfully at Angela, hardly believing that she now had to fight her adopted sister who she had known her whole life. But there was no choice, she knew. She would have to fight back.

"Angela," she said, her voice mixed with pain and half-sarcasm. "I don't want to fight you, but I guess I have no choice."

Angela snickered in answer. "Let's go, sister." Her voice was evil and sarcastic sounding, and Peg hated the way it sounded compared to the usual cheerful and happy voice of her sister that she knew so well.

The Trienith White Ranger wasted no time loading an energy arrow into her bow and shooting it at Peg. She shot out several arrows at her, causing her to stumble backwards as sparks flew from her body. Gripping her trident strongly in her fist, she swiped it in front of her, blocking Angela's arrows as they flew towards her. Angela stopped, groaning a little in anger at this. Running up to her, she swung her bow towards her, hitting her hard in the chest with the thick white metal. Peg started to fall backwards, but before she really fell, Angela went behind her and hit her in the back, making her fall forwards instead. She fell flat on her face, crying out in pain. Getting up again as quickly as she could, she pointed her trident at Angela, shooting out a blast of Water at her. She dodged it by doing a barrel roll out of the way.

Not too far from them, Sean and Tiz were fighting with Jorge. Dan had gone off to help Will fight Jud. The White and Yellow Ranger didn't mind. They figured they'd have no problems with the Trienith Blue Ranger. They stood on both sides of him, surrounding him in a way. Jorge laughed.

"Two on one, eh?" he said in a sarcastic tone. "No problem." He made a thumbs up sign with his right hand, grinning invisibly under his helmet.

Holding his trident firmly in his hands, he pointed it out in front of him, spinning around quickly. As he spun around, he shot Light Water out of the tip of his trident with strong pressure. The water hit Sean and Tiz hard every time it reached them, hurting them immensely with its strength. This went on for several moments until at last Sean was able to dodge the water by diving forward on his stomach. Tiz saw this and did the same. From his position on the ground, Sean shot an energy arrow at Jorge, causing him to stop spinning and fall over. Tiz took this opportunity to hop to his feet and run over to Jorge with his sai. He tried to jab the tip of the hilt into the chest of the Trienith Blue Ranger, but his enemy rolled out of the way in time and leapt back to his feet. Sean began shooting more energy arrows at Jorge, but he quickly dodged each one as he moved closer to Sean. When he was right in front of him, he brought the top of his trident down on the White Ranger's head, causing him to fall to his knees in pain. While his back was to him, Tiz slashed his sai across it, causing sparks to fly off of him.

Next to them, Beth stood facing Kimber. She held her daggers tightly in her fingers as she nervously prepared herself to fight the Trienith Ranger in front of her. She did nothing yet, waiting for her enemy to attack first. Kimber had no problem with this, and she ran forward quickly with her sai, trying to slash Beth with it. The Green Ranger flipped over her and out of the way, kicking backwards as she landed behind her. Kimber stumbled a few steps but she soon recovered and kicked backwards herself, hitting Beth in the shins and making her almost fall forward. She managed to stay on her feet though, and she turned around and stabbed at Kimber with her daggers in the sides. Kimber clutched the offending areas in pain. She then pointed her sai at Beth and shot out a beam of Light Thunder, causing the electricity to surge through Beth's body as she screamed in pain. It was too much for her, and she collapsed backwards, nearly falling unconscious.

Before anyone had a chance to do anything else, a large flash of purple light filled the area. As the light faded, the menacing form of the Chaos Ranger became visible, walking slowly towards them. When he was close enough to be heard, he let out a deep and evil laugh that echoed throughout the trees in the park.

He scoffed a little, looking at the Rangers who had ceased their battles to stare at him. "Four against six, eh? Not exactly fair, now is it? Allow me to help even up the odds." With that, he ran in to where Will was and prepared to strike him with his lance.

Stephen smirked deviously as he stared out through the telescope at the battle at the park. Erica stood near him, unable to see what was going on, but guessing that it was good based on her leader's reaction. She sighed softly, a smile on her lips. It looked like the Trienith Rangers were actually going to be able to defeat their enemies. If that happened, all their pain and suffering and defeat would soon be over.

She still didn't entirely trust Stephen, especially since he had kept such a huge secret from her and Rufus. She figured he had a reason for it, but still, he should have told them, she thought. Walking away quietly and going back into her room, she decided that it didn't matter. As long as they defeated the Rangers and achieved their goals, nothing else in the world mattered.

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	16. The Trienith Rangers part 2

A/N: Man, I took forever with this episode. So sorry, guys. What with break and all and being all busy and stuff, I totally lost my inspiration for a little while. Hopefully I'll be able to write the next ep faster. This one is also a bit shorter than most chapters, but it's still good, and I hope it's worth the wait!

And now, without further ado, I give you chapter 16 of Power Rangers Element Storm. Enjoy!

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Episode 16: The Trienith Rangers part 2

Will put up his sword and blocked the attack from Rufus. Their weapons made a loud clanging noise as they clashed together, each Ranger forcing their weapon at the other with all their strength. At last, Will pushed Rufus away with his sword, making the Chaos Ranger stumble backwards a few steps. He quickly recovered and swung a powerful blow at Will's chest with his lance. The Trienith Red Ranger was unable to block it and it connected with his side hard, sending him flying off to the right, the breath knocked out of him.

Meanwhile, Jud had focused his efforts on Dan, who had come up to help Will. Before he could do anything, though, Sean ran up to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Dan, you go help Tiz," he said, sounding a bit breathless. "I'll take care of Jud." The Red Ranger just nodded and ran off to where Jorge and Tiz were fighting still. Sean watched him go, then he turned back to his friend. "Jud, I really wish I didn't have to fight you. You're my best friend." He clenched his fingers tightly around his bow as he waited for Jud's response.

"Correction, Sean," the Trienith Green Ranger said. "I was your best friend. Now, I have returned to the person I'm supposed to be: Cirin of Trienith. In this form, I would never have met you. Now I'm the way I was meant to be, not some pathetic Earthling."

"How you were meant to be, Jud?" Sean asked, his voice thick with pain and slight anger. "No, this is not how you were meant to be. You were never meant to be evil. You were good on Trienith, fighting against the ones you are working for now."

Jud hesitated for a moment, thinking, not really knowing what to say. At last, he spoke. "Stephen is my master now, and you will not question it again!" With that, he rushed forward with his daggers, zigzag slashing them against Sean's chest. Sparks flew from the area that was hit as Sean flew back in pain. He struggled to his feet, wishing to be anywhere but here at that moment. Aiming his bow at Jud, he quickly shot a rain of energy arrows at him, each one hitting him at different arrows and causing sparks to fly from his suit. Jud flew backwards into one of the trees surrounding the park. He then fell forward on his stomach and lay motionless. Sean stared at him for a moment, wondering if he had really defeated him. He stepped towards him cautiously, lowering his bow. When he was only a few feet away from him, he stopped, about to speak. Suddenly, Jud leapt to his feet quickly and caused a large chunk of earth to come up and he threw it at Sean. The White Ranger tried to blow it away with a strong gust of wind, but his former friend was too strong for him, and the earth hit him hard. He collapsed to the ground and demorphed, now unconscious.

Beth was not far away from them, still fighting with Kimber. She held her daggers tightly in her fingers as she waited for her enemy to strike. She did not have to wait long as Kimber rushed forward and slashed her with her sai before she could dodge or block. She stumbled back a bit but she soon recovered and swiped her daggers at Kimber. The Trienith Yellow Ranger dodged the attack easily, jumping to the side. She then shot a beam of Light Thunder at Beth, but she was able to roll out of the way and dodge it. Rolling back to her feet, the White Ranger jumped in the air and flipped over Kimber. Landing on the other side of her, she kicked backwards at her before she had a chance to do anything. This did not have much effect as Kimber recovered quickly and turned to face her. But, she saw that Beth was not looking at her. She had just seen Sean lying demorphed and unconscious near Jud, who was standing over him. Calling out her friend's name loudly, she ran over towards him, forgetting for a moment about her own battle. She got to him quickly and knelt beside him, not caring about anything else that was going on. Suddenly, she felt an amazingly strong surge of electricity jolt through her body, and she demorphed as well, falling unconscious onto Sean's chest.

Tiz and Dan did not notice this as they stood on either side of Jorge, who was holding his trident and looking at each of them in turn. Grinning from under his helmet, he aimed his weapon at Dan first, shooting out a blast of Light Water at him. Although the Red Ranger tried to avoid them, he was unable to and they hit him hard. Tiz tried to take advantage of this distraction by moving in with his sai, but before he could get close to him, Jorge whipped around and shot water at him as well, sending him flying backwards a few feet. Both Earth Rangers recovered quickly as they stood up again. They looked around their enemy at each other and nodded. Then, they ran towards him swiftly. Jorge couldn't stop both of them at the same time, so he chose Dan, attempting to shove him away with his trident. But, Dan blocked it with his sword and pushed hard into him, sending him closer to Tiz, who slashed at his side with his sai. Sparks flew as Jorge cried out in pain, falling to his knees. Before the others had a chance to do anything, he stood slowly and dropped his trident, putting his hands up towards his sides, palms facing the Rangers. Strong bursts of Light Water shot out of them, throwing his enemies to the side hard. Dan, who was weaker against water, simply fell to the ground and demorphed. Tiz flew straight into a tree and he screamed in pain as he connected with it. Then, he too fell down and demorphed, unconscious like his friends.

Peg was not far away from them, still fighting with Angela. The two were close to each other now, fighting with their weapons. Angela was using her bow to hit and block rather than shooting arrows with it. Thrusting it at Peg's trident, she forced the edge of it in between to of the spikes on the trident. She then twisted it sideways, causing Peg to let go of the trident and it to fly in the air behind her. The Blue Ranger was about to go get it when Angela began shooting arrows at her, causing her to cry out in pain and stumble forwards. The Trienith White Ranger moved closer to her, intending to hit her in the back with her bow, but, before she could do anything, Peg rolled over on her back and sent a strong blast of Water at her adopted sister, causing her to fly up in the air and backwards a few steps. Peg jumped quickly to her feet and grabbed her trident again. Although Angela landed on her feet, she was still quite weakened. The Blue Ranger ran straight up to her, setting the tip of her trident on her chest. Hesitating sadly a moment, she shot a powerful burst of Water out through her trident, sending Angela flying back into a tree. She then fell forward and demorphed.

Will was not faring so well against Rufus. He shot blast after blast of Light Fire at him, missing every time as the Chaos Ranger dodged his attacks. He finally decided to give this up and he was about to attack him with his sword when he suddenly paused, looking around the park. He saw that all of his Rangers besides Peg were lying on the ground, demorphed and unconscious. Crying out in alarm, he ran over to Dan, who was closest to him. He called his name loudly, shaking him gently and trying to rouse him. His efforts had no effect, though, and he stood up again and turned back to Rufus.

"Oscuro, you have won for today," he said. "But I promise you it will be different next time."

The Chaos Ranger demorphed and grinned at his enemy. "You're right about one thing, Adus," he agreed. "We have won today. But next time will be no different. We will destroy you and your pathetic team." As he spoke, the Trienith Rangers walked over to him, each demorphed as well. Jorge was holding an unconscious Angela in his arms, looking at her, obviously concerned. Rufus looked around at the Rangers standing near him. "Let's go, Cirin, Feanaro, Alassea, Anaia." As he said their names, the five of them teleported away, each glowing their respective colors.

Will sighed deeply, turning to Peg, who was now kneeling beside the unconscious form of Dan, soft tears shining in her eyes. She looked up at the Trienith Red Ranger sadly.

"I guess we'll have to get them home somehow," she said, letting her eyes shift to the bodies of each of her friends. Will nodded, gently lifting Dan into his strong arms.

"My car is still waiting in the parking lot not too far away," he said. "We'll take them back to the café to recover." Peg said nothing in response as she walked over to Beth and picked her up. Strangely, her friend was surprisingly light, and she carried her after Will to his car.

A wide grin was spread across Stephen's face as Rufus and the Trienith Rangers appeared in the tower. He walked over to Jud and put a hand on his shoulder, nodding to him.

"You did an excellent job today," he said. "Next time, you will destroy them, and our plan will be complete. We'll take over this pathetic planet once and for all." Looking around the room, his eyes fell on Jorge, who was still holding Angela in his arms. He sighed. "Go and rest now. Tomorrow, we will take care of them."

"Yes, Pyric," Jud replied with a smile. "We will destroy them tomorrow."

He motioned for the others to follow him and they went downstairs to the second to the top floor. There were extra rooms there where they were staying. Jorge took Angela to her room and gently laid her on her bed. Brushing a stray hair out of her face, he leaned down and kissed her. Then, he left the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

About an hour later, the Rangers were sitting around their special table, Will and Del sitting on chairs on the far side of it. Will had closed the café for the rest of the day, deciding that after a loss like that he couldn't bear to work. Dan, Peg, and Tiz were sitting on one side, the Red and Blue Rangers holding hands under the table. On the other side, Beth was leaning her head on Sean's shoulder. He had an arm around her and he was stroking her hair gently. Even though they had lost miserably today, Beth was perfectly content at this moment. All was silent for a moment, until Peg spoke at last.

"I can't believe we lost today," she commented softly, sighing.

"I know," Dan agreed, looking at Will. "Your team was so strong…"

Will laughed grimly. "They aren't my team anymore," he replied. "Eighteen years ago on Trienith they were my team. Now they're just Rangers fighting for the wrong side." He sighed and looked away. "Something is wrong," he whispered, sounding as if he was talking more to himself than the others. "Stephen must have them under some kind of control, or they wouldn't be doing this."

Ignoring this comment, Del smiled the most encouraging smile he could muster. "Don't worry, guys," he said, his voice kind and reassuring. "You'll get them next time."

"I hope you're right, Del," Tiz said, biting his lower lip. "We won't be able to take many more beatings like that."

"Yeah," Beth agreed. "We were lucky this time. They left after they beat us. Next time they might not leave until they…" she cringed a little, not wanting to say the word, "d-destroy us."

Sean gently tightened his grip around her. "I won't let them destroy you, Bethy," he said, smiling down at her. She smiled at him as well, but she couldn't help still being a little bit afraid.

Dan looked over at the Trienith Red Ranger again. The latter was staring off into space, obviously deep in thought. "So, what do we do now, Will?" he asked. There was no response. Dan raised his eyebrows. "Will?" Still nothing. Rolling his eyes, Dan waved a hand in front of Will's face. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" He laughed a little as Will jumped out of his trance-like state and looked at him.

"Huh? What did you say? Sorry, I was kind of in my own little world." He forced a small smile.

"What do we do now?" Dan repeated his question, trying not to sound annoyed at his mentor.

Will sighed. "Well, I guess some training wouldn't hurt us," he said. "Perhaps if we worked to hone our powers a bit, we could do better against them next time."

The others nodded. Peg smiled grimly.

"So, when do we start?"

The Trienith Rangers were currently in Jud's room, Kimber and Angela sitting on the bed while the boys stood. Jorge was standing next to Angela, who was on the edge of the bed leaning against his legs as he gently stroked her hair. She was still exhausted from being defeated by Peg, but she was better off now that she had had some rest.

At this moment, the room was silent. Each of them seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, unwilling to share them with the others. At last, Jud spoke up, moving his eyes from the ground to the faces of his team mates and folding his arms across his chest.

"We sure kicked butt today," he said, grinning widely.

Kimber smiled, glancing up at him. "Yes, we did." Her voice was cheerful. "That Green Ranger was so easy to beat! We'll destroy them in no time."

Jorge laughed. "I was able to win my battle, and I was fighting two of them at once. Adus sure has a pathetic team."

"Yep," Jud agreed. "And he himself was easy when I was fighting him. He's really lost his touch in his old age." The others laughed with him at this, even though they knew that Will was not all that old, being only 36.

Angela was the only one who did not react to any of this. She remained silent, her eyes closed, leaning contentedly against her boyfriend. Her mind was not in the room. It was elsewhere, wandering back to memories that now seemed so distant. Surprisingly, they were not memories of Trienith, as were now filling the minds of her team mates. She was thinking of her life on Earth and all the fond memories with her adopted sister. Peggy had always been so close to her, and the girls had gotten along so well. It hurt to have to fight with her, but for some reason, she had to obey Stephen's orders. Of course, it was mind control, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Dan and Tiz stood in one section of the café facing each other. It was Will's idea that they each pick a partner to spar against, and, not surprisingly, the Red and Yellow Rangers opted to fight each other. In the center of the large room, Beth and Peg were preparing to spar, and on the other side, Will and Sean were going to go at it. Del was sitting on a stool behind the counter, watching the matches from a safe distance.

Tiz grinned at Dan. "This is going to be fun."

With that, the Rangers morphed.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

Immediately after morphing, Tiz called out his weapon and charged at Dan, slashing him quickly across the stomach. Now behind him, he slashed across his back too, then he pushed his sai into his back, making him stumble forward. The Red Ranger recovered after a moment and called his sword as Tiz was trying to strike again. He blocked the attack with the blade of his sword and pushed Tiz back. The Yellow Ranger stumbled back a little bit, but he quickly recovered and pointed his sai at Dan, shooting a beam of Thunder at him. Dan dove out of the way and shot Fire at him with his sword. Tiz blocked it with his weapon and ran towards his adversary. He acted like he was going to hit him with his sai, and Dan prepared to block it. But, when he got near him, Tiz jumped up and kicked him in the chest as well, doing a back flip off of him. Dan fell over onto his back his sword flying away from his hand. He began to laugh suddenly, unhooking his helmet and taking it off. He smiled at his friend, who now towered above him.

"Great battle, man," he said as Tiz helped him stand.

"Yeah, that was pretty good," Tiz agreed. "You got your butt whooped though!" He laughed as he took off his helmet as well. The two of them went over to the counter and sat on two of the stool, watching the other battles that were going on.

To their right, Will and Sean were still fighting. Sean was shooting a rain of arrows at his sparring partner, and Will was unable to dodge them. After a while of this, he allowed himself to fall onto his back, causing Sean to miss him. He leaned his head up and pointed his sword at Sean, shooting a ball of Light Fire out of it directly at his bow, causing him to drop it. The White Ranger picked up his weapon again quickly and ran towards Will, hitting him across the chest with it while he was trying to get up. This knocked him back down of course. To be fair, as this was only a sparring match, Sean helped Will up and the two continued to fight. Sean used his bow as a sword and he blocked the attacks from Will's sword. Suddenly, the Trienith Red Ranger pushed at Sean's weapon hard, sending him flying back a few feet and causing him to drop the bow. Now weaponless, the White Ranger had a better idea. Waving his hands in the air, he created a powerful but small tornado in front of him. Then, he sent it flying towards his opponent, who got caught up in its powerful winds. Sean held him there for a few moments before releasing him. Will fell to the ground and demorphed. He got up soon afterwards, laughing.

"Very nice, Sean," he said, smiling. "You have gained much more control over your powers than the first time you used them." Sean just nodded at him and the two Rangers went over to the counter and sat next to their team mates.

Directly in front of them, Beth and Peg were in the midst of their battle. Peg was swiping at Beth mercilessly with her Trident. The Green Ranger was able to avoid some of the attacks and block others, but most of the blows hit her regardless of her attempts. At last, Beth leapt into the air, flipping over Peg and landing behind her. Before she had a chance to turn around, Beth jabbed her daggers into her, then she sliced them diagonally across her back. Peg stumbled forward a bit, but she quickly caught her footing and spun around to face her opponent, who was now standing fairly close to her. She quickly put her hand against Beth's stomach and shot out a powerful stream of water, causing Beth to fly backwards into the counter, hitting between Dan and Tiz. She landed on a stool, but she lost her balance and fell forward onto her face, demorphing.

Taking off her helmet, Peg rushed over to see if she was alright. Sean, who had now demorphed, jumped off his stool and kneeled by Beth, taking her into his arms and calling her name loudly. She laid there motionless for a moment before slowly opening her eyes. She smiled weakly at Sean and then up at Peg.

"Man, you're strong," she said in her usual cheerful voice. "I'm just glad I'm on your side." She laughed, and the others laughed with her.

Rufus sat in his room on his bed, staring off into space. This was all too weird. The very people he used to fight and hate were now on his side. It seemed too much to handle. He leaned forward a bit, placing his head in his hands and letting his mind wander. A few minutes later (even though it felt like hours), Erica came into his room and sat next to him, looking at him with concern in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle, so unlike her normal demeanor. "Shouldn't you be happy? I mean, you guys were awesome today."

Rufus let out a soft sigh and looked up at her, smiling a bit. "I am happy about that," he said, putting his arm around her and holding her close as their eyes still met. "But, it's just so weird. We used to hate the Trienith Rangers. They were our enemies, and the only thing stopping us from fulfilling our plan and bringing disharmony to the Elements on our planet. But now, I'm supposed to fight with them? It just seems so wrong. And I know Stephen has them under some kind of mind control, but I can't help but have this sinking feeling that, somehow, they're going to betray us and go back to Will. Then where would we be?" He paused for a moment and stroked her hair gently, sighing again. "Don't worry, Erica," he continued. "If they do betray us, I promise I won't let them hurt you."

She smiled and snuggled deeper into his embrace, knowing that what he said was true.

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A/N: Haha The Trienith Rangers kick ultimate booty! I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	17. Of Earth and Dark Water

A/N: Wow, that was quick. Yay for inspiration returning! This episode was fun to write, and I hope you all like it!

Anyways, without further ado, I give you episode 17 of Power Rangers Element Storm. Enjoy!

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Episode 17: Of Earth and Dark Water

Dan and Peg sat on a bench in the park far down the path and away from the playground. The boy let his legs dangle over the side while the girl was half sitting, half lying in the bench, her head resting on her boyfriend's shoulder. He had his arm around her and he was gently rubbing her side, his head leaning over on hers. The two were completely content and happy, enjoying the peacefulness of the bright day. The sun shone down on them, casting its warmth upon their bodies. The only clouds in the sky were white, puffy, cotton-like clouds drifting lazily in the light breeze. Leaves rustled gently in the wind, making a calming and enjoyable sound.

Everything felt so perfect at this moment. All thoughts of their horrible defeat by the Trienith Rangers were far away in the back of their minds. Right now, they were only thinking of each other and the pure joy they were feeling. Peg suddenly sat up and faced Dan, a loving smile on her face. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips, savoring the warmth of his touch flow through her. He kissed her back and wrapped both arms around her, holding her close to him. Her arms flew around his neck as their kisses became deeper and more passionate. They were in perfect bliss right now, and they didn't care if anyone saw their vivid expressions of love.

Stephen sighed, obviously troubled with thought. The Trienith Rangers were standing behind him at attention, each wondering what could be going on in their master's head. Rufus was sitting in one corner of the main room, reading his book in silence. Erica stood gazing out one of the windows, her expression firm and hard. Stephen went over to look through the telescope. He saw through its thick glass lenses the Red and Blue Rangers at the park, close to the area his Rangers had last attacked them. That had been a week ago, and he had not sent them down since.

Both teams had gotten much training done in this time, and both felt more confident that they would win their next battle. But something about this didn't seem right to Stephen. Will's team had one more Ranger than his did, and that meant that one of his Rangers had to fight two opponents. It just didn't seem right.

Stepping away from the telescope, he turned to the Trienith Rangers and cleared his throat loudly. The younger two members of the Chaos Three snapped to attention as well, looking at him. His stern eyes landed on Erica, and he nodded to her, beckoning her to come over to him. She complied immediately, not changing her expression. Rufus stood up and went near him as well, wondering what was up.

"I've been thinking," Stephen began, looking around at the faces of the others in turn. "The Element Storm Rangers outnumber us by one. It's not fair that one of our Rangers has to fight two enemies. So, we're going to do things a little differently this time." He looked back at Erica. "I'm sending you down as well to fight."

Erica just stared at him, hardly believing what he was saying. At last, she spoke nervously. "But Stephen, they have Ranger powers. I don't."

His face did not change. "You have the power of Dark Water, do you not?"

"Well, yes, of course, but I…" She was cut off as he continued.

"Then you can fight. Go for their weakest Ranger. You should be able to take her."

Erica sighed, seeing no way out of this. Deep inside, her heart was pumping with excitement. She was glad to actually be able to get some action for once. "And which is the weakest?" she asked her leader."

Stephen's face broke out into a grin. "The Green Ranger," he said. "You will be fighting the Green Ranger."

Not too far away from where Dan and Peg were, the other Rangers were walking along the path. Del was with them as well, and they were all talking and laughing happily. The peace and quiet of this week had done much to raise their spirits, although it was an ominous silence. They tried hard to focus not on whatever impending attack there may be but on the current relapse from their Ranger duties. Sure, they had done a lot of training, but training was much better than fighting their enemies. Each Ranger felt more prepared to fight the Trienith Rangers again, and their hopes were high that they would defeat them soon.

There was a short but content silence between the walking Rangers as they approached the bench where Dan and Peg had gone back to just sitting next to each other. After a moment, Del spoke.

"Man, you guys are lucky," he said. "I wish I had been chosen to be a Ranger."

Tiz laughed. "No, you don't, dude," he argued. "It's a lot harder than it looks, and it's quite a draining job. Plus, it's seriously cutting down on my video game time." This made the others burst into laughter. They knew it was true, and it was so typical of Tiz to say something like that.

"You know, after this week, I feel a million times stronger than before," Dan said, grinning slyly. "Just let those Trienith Rangers try to destroy us! I bet we could beat them right here and right now."

Suddenly, as if because of what Dan said, a loud "whooshing" sound was heard behind them. Turning to look, they saw to their surprise and annoyance the Trienith Rangers appearing in flashes of their respective colors. Rufus was with them as well, and they were morphed and ready to fight. But, someone else was with them that they did not expect to see. Peg jumped up from the bench and glared.

"Erica," she said through clenched teeth. The Chaos Three member just grinned at her as she came towards them.

"Nice to see you again, Peggy," she said, her voice thick with sarcasm. "But, unfortunately, I'm not fighting with you today." She turned to Beth, smiling at her with the same sarcastic and evil expression.

Beth stared at her wide eyed. "But, you're not a Power Ranger," she said.

"No," she said. "I'm sure I can take you with my Dark Water though, Green Ranger. That is, unless you're going to morph and make it an unfair fight."

Beth bit her lip and looked over at Will helplessly. He just shrugged at her and turned back to the Trienith Rangers.

"You won't defeat us so easily this time, Oscuro," he said, looking specifically at the Chaos Ranger. Then, Dan took a step forward.

"Ready, guys?" he called to his team mates. All except Beth shouted "Ready!" back to him, and they prepared to morph.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

With that, the five Rangers morphed and stood facing the people they would soon be fighting. Del stood behind them, wishing that he could help somehow. After a moment of silence, the Element Storm Rangers and Will ran forward to fight. The Trienith Red Ranger went to fight Rufus, Sean went after Jud, Peg with Angela, Dan with Jorge, and Tiz with Kimber. Nearest to the trees, Beth and Erica prepared to fight, the Green Ranger unmorphed.

Will charged at Rufus first, setting his sword on fire as he began to slash viciously at his enemy. He hit him many times, sparks flying from Rufus' suit with each connection. The Chaos Ranger cried out in pain each time the sword hit him, the Light Fire burning him through his suit, although the suit itself was undamaged. At last, after several unsuccessful tries to block his blows with his lance, Rufus shot out a beam of Dark Water at Will, dousing his sword and sending him flying backwards. Will landed on his feet, but it took him a moment to steady himself. Before he got a chance, Rufus ran forward and jabbed him in the chest with the lance, causing his enemy to keel over in pain. The evil Ranger took this opening to beat the broad side of his lance across Will's back, making him fall forward onto his stomach.

Sean grinned from under his helmet. Last time, he had lost to Jud, but this time it would be different. He felt more confident with his powers and with fighting in general, and he wasn't going to lose again. Calling out his bow, he started shooting arrows at Jud. Much to his surprise, Jud blocked each arrow by hitting them away with his daggers. He was somehow able to block everything Sean was shooting at him. After a while, the White Ranger stopped. He saw that he wasn't the only one who had been training. He decided to attack head on, running towards Jud to kick him. As he was running though, Jud suddenly picked up a huge chunk of earth with his mind and threw it towards Sean. The White Ranger quickly put his hands out and caused a strong wind, trying to blow away the earth. Jud pushed it towards him stronger, and he pushed his wind with all his might. Sean found that he couldn't hold it back anymore, so he stopped his flow of wind and tried to dive out of the way of the earth. It still hit him partially, causing him to fall over.

Angela wasted no time in attacking Peg, shooting energy arrows at her quickly. She was still ticked about losing to her last time, and she promised herself she would win this time. Peg mentally grinned. She had trained enough with Sean to be more prepared for this. Holding her trident out in front of her, the tip facing upwards, she began to spin it in her hands. As the arrows came towards her, they were reflected away from the speed at which the trident was moving. They fell to the ground and disappeared as they hit her spinning trident. Seeing this, Angela stopped, hardly believing that her enemy was able to do that. Growling in frustration, she threw her bow to the ground and charged at Peg, causing a strong wind to come with her. When she got near, she used the wind to power up a kick into Peg's stomach. The force of the connection along with the Light Wind sent the Blue Ranger flying backwards several feet. She landed hard with a thud on the green grass that was still blowing in the wind.

Not far away from them, Tiz and Kimber were preparing to fight. IThis will be interesting/I Tiz thought. ITime to see which is stronger: Thunder or Light Thunder/I. With this thought in mind, he ran at Kimber with his sai held up over his shoulder next to his ear. The bright yellow weapon sparked and crackled as he charged it with Thunder. As he came near her, she pulled out her own sai, preparing to block his attack, figuring that he intended to slash his charged weapon at her. Instead, at the last second, he flipped over her and stabbed backwards, sending a pulse of electricity through his sai into her back. The Thunder surged through her body and she screamed in pain, squeezing her eyes shut. After a moment though, her eyes shot open again and she turned slowly to face Tiz, her face still cringing painfully. Drawing her hands upward at her sides, the palms facing the sky, her body began to suddenly glow with even more electricity. It was lighter in color and it was surrounded by a white aura. Suddenly, she thrust her hands forward, releasing all her Light Thunder out through then and straight into a shocked Tiz. He didn't move as the electricity coursed through his veins, his scream of pain echoing through the park.

Dan and Jorge were well into their fight already. The Trienith Blue Ranger pointed his trident at Dan and sent a stream of Light Water flowing through it. The Red Ranger dove out of the way, getting up again quickly and clutched his sword tightly in his hand. He set his sword on fire and charged at Jorge, slashing him with his flaming weapon. Jorge could do nothing to avoid the attacks, though he continued to try to block them with his trident. At last, seeing that this wouldn't work, he thrust his hands out above him and sent a rain of water from them. The water flowed down and landed on both of them. It extinguished Dan's sword and succeeded in weakening him. Jorge took this chance to slash the tip of his trident across Dan's chest hard, causing sparks to fly off of his suit.

Erica and Beth were facing off, preparing to fight. The latter had determined yet almost nervous expression on her face. The former looked confident as she smirked at her adversary. She was the first to make a move, running towards Beth and kicking at her. The Green Ranger blocked it with her arm and did her own spinning kick at Erica, hitting her in the chest. Erica growled as she punched at Beth's head. Again, the girl blocked, catching her fist in her hand. She pushed it away and made her enemy stumble back a few steps. Erica tried to punch her again, but Beth spun around and fell forward on the ground, causing her enemy to miss. She then kicked Erica's legs, tripping her. Beth then leapt to her feet again and waited for the older girl to get up before doing anything else. From her position on her ground on her back, Erica shot Dark Water out of her hands towards the ground at strong pressure, forcing herself to a standing position. Now that she was up again, Beth felt it was okay to attack. Focusing her energy hard, she caused a strong earthquake to build up inside of her. Soon, her whole body was shaking violently. She brought her hands up and then threw them down, sending the quake into the ground. With the control she had gained from her training this week, she had learned to make her earthquakes happen in only a certain area. Right now, the only place that was shaking was the small area where she and Erica were standing. The earthquake caused Erica to fall over in pain, as she was unable to handle the intense quaking of the ground beneath her.

Sean looked over from where he was fighting Jud for a moment. Since he was close to where their battle was taking place, he could feel softly the effects of Beth's attack. He smiled, happy that Beth had finally gotten good control over her powers. Then, he turned his attention back to his own battle. While he was fighting, the White Ranger had gotten a good idea of how to defeat Jud. Thrusting his hands out in front of him, he created a powerful but small tornado. Sending it to where his enemy was standing, he picked him up in the whirlwind. Then, he lifted it a few feet above the ground, the Trienith Green Ranger trapped inside. Calling out his bow again, he began to shoot energy arrows at the tornado, each one hitting the Ranger inside, as now he had no way to block it. Jud's cries of pain could hardly be heard over the intensity of the wind. After a while of this, Sean released the tornado and Jud fell to the ground, demorphing, lying there unconscious.

Recovering from the attack of Light Thunder by Kimber, Tiz stopped for a moment. He remembered when Peg had fought Erica that one time. It seemed ages ago now, but the way they had settled it would probably work now, if Kimber would agree to it. Tiz held out a hand, motioning for her to stop.

"I have an idea," he said. "Why don't we see once and for all which of our Elements is more powerful?"

Kimber sounded intrigued at this. "Oh? And how will we go about doing that?"

"Easy," Tiz replied. "We each shoot out electricity at each other as strong as we can and see which one wins. Sound good to you?"

"Fine," Kimber laughed. "But let me warn you, I won't lose!"

"If you say so," Tiz said with a laugh. "We'll go on the count of three."

"Alright."

With that, she prepared to do as planned, putting her hands out in front of her. Tiz did the same, and he began to charge up all his Thunder, focusing as hard as he could. When they were both ready, they began to count down together. "1…2…3!" As they said the last number, they each released their electricity, the Thunder and Light Thunder shooting out from them in beams of bright yellow. At first, Kimber seemed to be winning. Her Light Thunder was forcing its way towards Tiz, almost drowning out his own Element. Closing his eyes tightly as he focused, Tiz forced his Thunder out stronger, using all his might and everything he had. Before long, the Yellow Ranger's Element was obviously winning as it burst through Kimber's easily. It hit her with all its force and power. She screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground, demorphed and unconscious. Tiz panted heavily, at last demorphing himself. Although he had won, it took a lot of energy to do that.

Meanwhile, Dan was having no luck against Jorge. The Trienith Blue Ranger was relentlessly shooting his Light Water at him, and it was weakening his Fire significantly. The Red Ranger was desperately trying to think of a way to stop him from shooting water at him. At last, he was able to dodge Jorge's attacks long enough to shoot his own Element at him. The Fire hit him hard, making him fly back a few feet. Dan took the opportunity to charge up his fire, focusing all his attention and energy on it. At last, he thrust his hands forward, sending out a strong blast of Fire at his opponent. Jorge fell down on his back and demorphed.

Angela was still fiercely attacking Peggy with her wind. Peg could hardly get near her, as every time she did, she was blown away by the force of the Light Wind. Since she couldn't get near, she couldn't really attack her back. Each time she tried to shoot Water at her enemy, she was hit by a strong wind that forced her to stop. Peg mentally growled in frustration, not knowing what to do. After a moment, she had an idea. Taking her trident in her hands, she tossed it upwards tip first. Before Angela could stop it with her wind, it came down on her hard, the tip landing right on her chest and making sparks fly off of her. Peg then ran forward, grabbing her weapon back and starting to slash wildly at Angela with it. Finally, she shot out her most powerful stream of water at the Trienith White Ranger. This caused her to fly backwards into a tree. She bounced off of the thick bark and landed on the ground demorphed.

Rufus was currently getting the best of Will. He was alternating between using Dark Fire, Dark Water, and Dark Thunder through his lance. Will fought back with all his strength, using his sword to try and block the attacks. This proved difficult, as the Chaos Ranger seemed to be especially fast today. The Trienith Red Ranger didn't know how much more of this he could take, as each attack seemed to get increasingly more powerful, and Will was tiring. After what seemed like forever of this, Will finally was able to stop his attacks by shooting Light Fire directly at him as he held his lance at bay with his sword. Rufus stumbled backwards, but he soon prepared to strike again in the same way. Before he could, Will shot a small ball of fire at his hand, forcing him to drop his weapon painfully. He ran forward and kicked him, making him fall on his back. Then, he picked up the lance and threw it aside where Rufus would not easily be able to get it. Finally, using what was left of his strength, Will released a powerful blast of Light Fire, hitting Rufus directly and forcing him to demorph.

Will stood there a few feet away from him, gasping for breath, completely spent. He purposely demorphed and walked painfully over to Rufus.

"There, Oscuro," he said, his voice sounding ragged through his gasps. "We've defeated you this time. Now go back to your master where you belong."

Rufus smirked as he stumbled to his feet, clutching his right arm. "We can't leave yet," he said. "Erica hasn't finished destroying your Green Ranger." He nodded towards the other side of the park where Beth and Erica were still going at it. Will gasped, just now realizing that they were still fighting.

The other Earth Rangers were already watching the girl's battle, hoping desperately that Beth would win. Rufus went to each of the Trienith Rangers in turn, saying their names softly and teleporting them back to the tower. Then, he came over to watch the battle as well. He had a strong feeling that Erica would win this, no matter what.

Beth was starting to believe this as well. She was losing badly now, having used a lot of energy on the earthquake she created earlier. At this moment, they were fighting more with karate than with their powers. Erica kicked Beth in the chest and made her fall back a bit. She soon recovered and kicked Erica as well. Before she could do anything else, she punched her in the arm hard and then kicked her legs so that she would trip again. The Earth Rangers who were watching cheered at this, feeling that Beth would most likely win. Erica got up quickly, but Beth moved in just as quick to attack again. This time, however, the Chaos Three member wasn't going to let that happen. She shot a bit of Dark Water at Beth, stopping her in her tracks. Then, Erica focused as hard as she could, honing in all her energy. Her eyes closed automatically as she concentrated all her thought on what she was going to do. Finally, her eyes shot open and she let out a thick, pressurized stream of Dark Water through her outstretched hands. It hit Beth in the chest and she flew backwards, crashing into the park bench that Dan and Peg had been sitting on not too long ago. The bench broke off its legs and collapsed backwards, leaving Beth sprawled out on the soaking wood, unconscious.

Erica looked down at her hands, hardly believing she had summoned such power. She didn't have long to think about it as Rufus came up to her and hugged her in his strong arms.

"You did it, Erica!" he cried happily. She hugged him back, but she looked over his shoulder at the motionless form of the girl she had just beaten. She sighed, feeling a bit guilty for what she had done. IOh well/I she thought. IIt's battle. It should be expected./I She still found it difficult to shake her guilt as the Rangers huddled around their fallen comrade. Biting her bottom lip, she smiled at Rufus.

"Let's go home," she said.

He grinned at her. "Alright, Erica." With that, the two of them teleported away in a flash of yellow and blue.

When they got back to the tower, it was obvious that Stephen was not happy. The Trienith Rangers were no where to be seen, as Rufus had teleported each of them to their beds on their floor. Stephen sighed as Erica and Rufus appeared.

"Well, my Rangers lost," he said, sounding annoyed. "But, I'm sure they'll get them next time." He turned to Erica, and his frown seemed to melt into a smirk. "You, however, did amazing today. You totally owned the Green Ranger." He walked over to the girl and put his hand on her shoulder. "I knew you could do it, Erica," he said, smiling at her. She could sense the pride in his voice, and it made her happier than she had been in a while. Before she could reflect on this for long, though, Stephen continued. "You two go and get some rest. It was a hard battle today." Nodding to them, he went off to his room and closed the door behind them.

Rufus looked at Erica's beaming face for a moment, touching it gently. Then, the two of them followed Stephen's example, going into their respective rooms and collapsing on their beds happily.

Back at the park, Sean was now holding Beth in his arms as he sat beside the broken bench. She wasn't moving, and tears rolled down the White Ranger's cheeks. He looked up at Will sadly.

"She's going to be okay, isn't she?" he asked, his voice shaky with his soft sobs.

Will sighed. "I think so," he said. "But I don't know for sure. Let's get her back to the café."

Sean nodded and he stood up, carefully scooping Beth into his arms and carrying her as the five Rangers walked back to their cars, which were on the other side of the park. Del, who had been watching from a safe distance, followed them unhappily, wishing there was something he could do to help.

Once back at the café, they took Beth to the back room. Sean gently laid her down on the bed, sitting on the end of it. The others left the room sadly, not knowing what else to do. Will stopped at the doorway and looked back at Sean.

"Don't worry, Sean," he said softly. "I'm sure she'll be fine once she gets some rest." The White Ranger nodded, hoping that he was right. Then, Will went out into the main room with the others.

They were already sitting around their table as usual. Del was with them, sitting backwards on a chair at the end of the table.

Will smiled as he came over. "Well, we won today," he said cheerfully. "That was an amazing battle for all of us."

Dan grinned. "Yes, it was," he agreed. "I totally kicked Jorge's butt!"

"And I sure showed that Yellow Ranger that Thunder beats Light Thunder any day," Tiz exclaimed proudly.

"Yeah, and even though it sucks having to fight my sister, it was still pretty cool beating her," Peg smiled.

Del laughed. "And what about Sean?" he asked. "That was an awesome trick with the tornado and his arrows." The others nodded in agreement. Excitement hung thickly in the air as they continued to chat about their victory.

In the back room, Sean sadly brushed a hair out of Beth's face with his hand. Leaning over her unmoving body, he kissed her forehead lightly. He took her hands in his and watched her, his eyes full of sadness.

"Beth, you have to be okay," he said. "I haven't gotten a chance yet to tell you my feelings." His voice dropped to a dejected whisper. "I haven't told you yet how much I love you."

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	18. Everything Changes

A/N: Wow, I suck. So sorry for taking a long time, guys! This episode is pretty good, I think. Something BIG happens, I'll tell you now!

Anyways, without further ado, I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 18. Enjoy!

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Episode 18: Everything Changes

_The setting sun reflected off the waves crashing deep out in the sea. The soft, calming sound of water lapping against the shoreline was all that could be heard right now. A soft breeze flowed across the sandy beach, lifting up small, white grains and blowing them about the legs of the two people walking down it right where the water touched the land. Every once in a while, the translucent blue water tickled their feet as they made their way down the shore, holding hands. _

Suddenly, they stopped and turned to face each other. The boy looked at the girl with love evident in his eyes. The same love could be seen in the girl's eyes as they sparkled in the fading sunlight. Slowly, the boy leaned in to kiss his partner. Their lips touched gently just as the sun sunk beyond the horizon, plunging the world into darkness.

Kimber awoke with a start, a cold sweat pouring down her face. Her room was completely dark except for the faint red glow of the digital numbers of the alarm clock next to her bed. Glancing at this, she saw that it was 3:28am. She let out a deep sigh of annoyance. Ever since they had gained their memories of Trienith back, she had had this same dream numerous times. The girl was of course herself, and the boy was Will.

Sitting up in her bed, she pulled the covers around her tightly, even though it was a rather warm night. Why was she being haunted with this dream? Every time she had dreamt it, it ended at the same place, right as they kissed. She had not yet figured out what happened next. She couldn't figure out where the dream came from. There was nothing similar to it in her memory, so why was she dreaming about it?

Sighing again sadly, Kimber leaned forward and put her head in her hands, closing her eyes again. She knew she would not get back to sleep tonight.

In his room in the café, Will suddenly awoke as well, but not as violently as Kimber had. He sat up as well and sighed. He had had the same dream the Trienith Yellow Ranger did, although neither of them knew it. Unlike her, though, Will knew what it was and what it meant. The dream showed exactly the last few minutes before the Chaos Three attacked. That had been their last battle; the battle where they were defeated, and the battle where Will's team had met their tragic fate.

That night had promised to be a great one. Adus and Anaia had just gone on a romantic date, and now they were walking along their favorite beach. The sun was setting and it was very peaceful and calm. As the sun set at last, Will kissed Anaia gently, and everything seemed perfect. That is, until they suddenly heard a sound none of them were ready for. A dark, deep laughter echoed across the beach. Breaking away from each other, they turned to see where it was coming from. Much to their annoyance (but not surprise), Pyric was standing a few hundred feet away from them, Raine and Oscuro at his sides.

Will closed his eyes as the memory hit him. He forced himself to stop thinking about it for now. It was too painful to remember the time he had allowed his team to be defeated like that. Deep in his heart, he knew that there was nothing he could have done to prevent what had happened to them, but he still couldn't help blaming himself for their fate. After all, he was their leader, and it was his responsibility to protect them and lead them to victory.

Beth opened her eyes slowly, shutting them again as the sunlight flooded in and hit them. Once she was used to the bright light, she opened them once more and looked around. Something was off. Her surroundings were unfamiliar. This wasn't her room. Where was she? Panic filled her heart for a moment until she heard a familiar voice.

"It's okay, Beth." Turning towards the sound, she saw Sean coming towards her. He sat on the edge of the bed she was laying in. "After you got so beat up by yesterday's battle, I called your mom and asked if you could spend the night at my house. I figured it wouldn't be good for her to see you all hurt like that." Beth nodded and looked away.

"Thank you, Sean," she said softly. She paused. "I really got my butt kicked by Erica, didn't I?" It was more of a statement than a question. She looked up again into Sean's eyes, her own eyes brimming with tears.

The White Ranger bit his lip. "Well, yes, but don't worry too much about it." His voice sounded calm and reassuring. "I'm sure you'll do better against her next time." She nodded a little, unable to tear her eyes away from his. He placed his hand on hers gently.

"Beth, there's something I've been trying to tell you…" Suddenly, much to Sean's annoyance, the voice of Tiz came flowing out through his morpher.

"Sean? You there?" he asked. Grunting a bit with frustration and mentally cursing is friend's bad timing, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and spoke into his morpher.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up, Tiz?"

"How's Beth?"

Glancing for a moment at the girl in question, Sean responded. "She's fine," he said. "She's awake now."

"That's good," Tiz replied. "Will wants us to meet at the café to train today."

"Okay then," Sean said. "We'll be there as soon as we can." With that, he lowered his hand again, still looking at Beth. "Ready to go?" he asked.

She nodded slowly in response, stretching and standing up a bit stiffly. "Sean, what was it you were trying to tell me before?" Beth asked as the two of them headed out to the White Ranger's car.

"Uh, nothing," Sean answered quickly. "I'll, um, tell you later." Confused, Beth simply nodded again, and they headed out towards the café.

Later that day, the Trienith Rangers were standing around together in the main room of their floor. Rufus and Erica were with them, and they were all talking and laughing happily. Since they had lost their battle yesterday, Stephen had given them a much deserved and needed day off today. So, they were taking advantage of it the best they could.

"And then, there was this one time when Sean and I were little," Jud began through his laughter. "Sean literally thought he was Gambit. He convinced his mom to get him a brown trench coat, and he carried a pack of cards with him wherever he went. He'd randomly pull one out and throw it and objects and people, pretending he had charged it like Gambit did. Once, he was doing that at school, and suddenly the principal walked out into the hall while he was throwing a card. It hit him directly in the forehead!" Laughter exploded from everyone, especially Jud. "The principal got a paper cut, and Sean got detention for two weeks. After that, he decided being Gambit was too dangerous, so he went back to being regular old Sean."

Kimber smiled. "I could so see Sean doing that!" she exclaimed. "You two were both so obsessed with Gambit."

"And we still are." Jud beamed at her as if he was proud of his obsession.

As the laughter quieted down, a thoughtful silence filled the room for a moment. At last, Angela spoke up.

"Peggy was a crazy child," she began, chuckling. "Once, when we were in 8th grade, I had a crush on this one boy in our class. I was too shy to tell him, but of course I told Peg about it. We always told each other everything, and we knew that if we didn't, we'd find out about it. That's just the way we were with each other. Anyways, Peg couldn't stand the thought that I liked someone and didn't tell him about it. So, she came up with this crazy plot to get him to ask me to the dance that was coming up. But, she had the wrong guy ask me! She was so embarrassed about it." Everyone laughed at this. "But, all is well, because the guy she told to ask me was Jorge, and we all know how that ended up." She smiled up at her boyfriend who was holding her in his arms.

"Sure do," he said, smiling back. He kissed her lovingly.

"You know, it's kind of ironic that you two ended up together," Kimber said thoughtfully. "You guys were together on Trienith as well, and then you ended up together on Earth. I wonder if it was just coincidence or something else."

"Hmm," Jorge mused. "You're right. I never thought of that. It is ironic."

"Maybe deep in the back of your minds you guys had some memories of your lives on Trienith," Rufus suggested. "It could be what drew you together on Earth."

Jud nodded slowly. "It's possible," he said. "But, we'll never know now, will we?" There was another thoughtful silence before conversation began again. Now, they were sharing memories of their lives on Trienith. Rufus and Erica felt a bit left out of this, since they were the Ranger's enemies back on their home planet. They sat silently next to each other and listened, laughing with the rest of them.

Suddenly, Jud turned to Rufus. "Hey, do you have any funny stories you could share?" he asked. "I'm sure Pyric isn't perfect. Has he ever done anything worth telling about?"

Rufus looked at Erica and smiled. "Well, yes, but you can't tell him I told you anything." He laughed a bit nervously.

Kimber gave him a serious face. "Not a word," she told him.

Feeling encouraged, Erica and Rufus took turns telling funny memories about their leader. Surprisingly, they had a lot to tell, and soon they had the Rangers laughing harder than they had in a while.

The youngest member of the Chaos Three beamed happily. He had never really had friends before besides Erica, and he had always thought of her as more than a friend. Stephen was his leader, but he couldn't consider him a friend. He was too serious and cruel for that. But now, Rufus was talking with people who were actually interested in what he had to say; people who actually cared about him. It was so nice to be accepted for once. He could hardly believe that these guys were being so nice to him after he had been their enemy for so long. Part of it, he knew, had to do with Stephen's spell, but as they had still kept their personalities, he figured it had to be more than just that.

Pondering a bit, Rufus decided that somehow, the Trienith Rangers were going to turn good again. It seemed inevitable, although he couldn't think of how it would happen. In that moment, he pretty much decided that if/when they did, he might follow them. After all, they were the only people who had ever shown him friendship.

In the parking lot of the Overclocked Café, yet another morphed battle with the Trienith Rangers vs. the Earth Rangers was going on. This time, everyone seemed to be fighting someone else, except that Beth and Erica were still fighting each other like last time. They were right in front of the entrance to the café. Next to them, Jud was fighting with Tiz. Next came Peg fighting with Jorge, then Sean fighting Angela and Dan taking on Rufus. Last, Will and Kimber were battling each other.

Beth charged at Erica quickly, kicking her in the chest. Erica caught her leg and spun her around, making her fall onto her back. From her position on the ground, Beth tripped Erica, bringing her down with her. The Green Ranger leapt to her feet, waiting patiently for her enemy to do the same. It didn't take long for her to do that, and the two quickly resumed fighting. Erica shot a blast of Dark Water at Beth, hitting her in the arm and making her trip a little. She didn't fall, though, and she threw a punch at Erica's head. The girl dodged it and kicked Beth's shins rapidly in turn, causing her to fall over onto her knees.

Nearby, Tiz gave Jud an electrified punch in the chest with his left fist. The Trienith Green Ranger winced in pain and swiftly swiped his daggers across his enemy's outstretched arm, then he twisted sideways to kick his arm with the side of his ankle. Tiz spun around a bit, clutching his limb painfully. Gripping his sai in his other hand, he slashed it across Jud's legs, making him fall over into a sitting position. He quickly forced himself to stand and he glared at Tiz from under his helmet. Jumping up a bit, he gave Tiz a spinning kick in the chest, making him fly back a few feet, still standing.

Peg charged at Jorge with her trident, but he blocked it with his own, forcing her away from him. He then quickly slashed the weapon across her chest several times, causing sparks to fly from her suit. At last, he hit her with the broad side of the trident, making her fly backwards. She landed on her back, but she got up quickly. Letting her weapon fall to her side, she thrust her hands forward and shot out a blast of Water at him. With his quick reflexes, Jorge pointed his trident at her and shot out his own Dark Water. The difference in pressure was his downfall, though, and Peg's water soon broke through his and hit him square in the chest, making him fly backwards into a car.

Near them, Angela and Sean were shooting arrows at each other. Somehow, each arrow they shot was blocked by the other person's arrow. Eventually, they gave this up and ran at each other, holding their bows, ready to use them as weapons. Sean slashed at Angela with his bow, but she blocked it and swung around to swipe at him. He blocked it as well though. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Sean leapt forward onto his stomach and beat his bow across Angela's legs. She tripped and, much to both of their surprise, she tumbled forward onto his back.

Dan had set his sword on fire and he was now slashing Rufus viciously with it. The Chaos Ranger could not block the Red Ranger's extremely fast attacks. At last, he put his hands at his sides, palms downward, and shot fire out of them at the ground. This sent him flying high above his enemy and out of reach of his sword. He flipped in the air and landed behind him, calling on his lance as he fell. Gripping it tightly in both hands, he jabbed it into Dan's back and sent Dark Thunder surging through it. Dan cried out in pain and dropped his sword.

On the other side of the parking lot, Kimber ran at Will and slashed at him with her sai. He blocked it with his sword easily. This continued for a little while until at last Will was able to force his enemy away from him. The girl immediately came back at him though and she slammed her sai into his sword, forcing it towards him with all her might. Then, much to Will's surprise, she started to talk to him.

"Adus, meet me in the park this afternoon at 3:00, okay? And come alone. There's something I need to talk to you about." Her voice sounded both serious and sincere. This confused the Trienith Red Ranger.

"Why?" he asked. "So you can ambush me?"

"No, no, nothing like that," she replied, still pushing at his sword with her sai. "I promise it will be just you and me. Please say you'll be there?" She sounded urgent now, and he could sense pleading in her tone.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "But this had better not be a trap, Anaia." As he said her name, he cringed automatically, his strength failing for a moment. This gave Kimber an advantage, and she pushed him away from her, making him stumble backwards. She nodded to him and powered down, going over to where Rufus was waiting for Dan to get up.

"Hey, let's get out of here," she called to him. "We can destroy these weaklings next time." Rufus stopped what he was doing and looked at her curiously, although she could not see his face.

"Uh, okay, I guess," he agreed. Saying the names of each of the Trienith Rangers and Erica, he teleported them back to the tower.

Confused, the Rangers came together and demorphed.

"What was that about?" Dan asked.

"I don't know," Tiz said. "It's not like them to attack and then just take off like that."

"Maybe they have something really big planned?" Sean suggested.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Peg agreed. She looked at Will, who seemed to be off in another world right now as he stared blankly at the pavement. "What do you think, Will?" she asked him. He said nothing in response, making no sign that he had even heard her.

"Will?" Beth looked at her mentor with concern. "What's wrong?"

Blinking quickly, the older boy snapped back into reality, turning to the Green Ranger. "Huh? Oh, nothing. Just kind of lost in my thoughts. Yeah, it is kind of weird that they left so suddenly, but I don't think we have to worry about them attacking again today. Let's take the rest of the day off. Go on home and get some rest, guys." Sighing softly, he turned and walked quickly back into the café, checking his morpher/watch for the time as he went.

The Rangers looked at each other, confused, wondering what was up with their leader and mentor.

The sun hung high in the spring sky, casting shadows on the few white, puffy clouds that were scattered across the great blue expanse. Its light reflected off the still water of the pond in the park as Will gazed into it. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was exactly 3:00. He closed his eyes as a light breeze blew through his short blonde hair. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice behind him saying his name softly. He jolted around to look, seeing Kimber walking towards him slowly. The younger girl had an almost distraught look on her face, and she seemed sincere.

After checking to make sure that no one was following her, he walked cautiously over to her. "You, uh, had something you needed to talk to me about, Anaia?" Will asked, clearing his throat. She nodded.

"Yes. This is really awkward for me, but I have to ask you something." She paused and looked away before continuing. "Okay, well, I've been having this dream lately. It happens every night and it's really disturbing my sleep. I don't know where it comes from. There's nothing like it in my memory, but it keeps haunting me and I don't know what to do about it…"

"Well, what is it about?" Will asked. A part of him could guess what it was, but he didn't dare to ask if he was right.

Kimber proceeded to describe the exact dream that Will himself had had last night. He nodded as he listened, his suspicions confirmed.

"What is that about, Adus?" she asked as she finished. "I have no memory of it, but it seems so real and vivid."

Will closed his eyes painfully before saying anything. "That was the last night we had together before the last battle with the Chaos Three. You and I had just gone on a date, something we hadn't had a chance to do in a long time because of our Rangerhood. But, of course, Pyric chose then to attack, so we had to cut it short and call the others. I had thought it would be just a normal fight, but it turned out to be so much worse. Sure, the Chaos Three were finally defeated that night, but the cost was too much. It was then that you and the others were put under Pyric's spell. I had thought you were destroyed, but it seems to be worse than that…" He said the last thing quietly, his voice trailing off.

Kimber said nothing for a moment, letting all of this sink in. "That must be why I can't remember that night," she mused. "That was the night that we…" She stopped, unable to finish her sentence. She looked back up at Will curiously. "How is what happened worse than us being destroyed?" she asked, pretty sure she knew the answer.

"Because now you are my enemy and I'm forced to fight against you. It's much worse than any punishment I could have to bear." Will was unable to stop the tears that were now falling gently from his eyes. The Trienith Yellow Ranger looked away sadly, not knowing what to say. At last, she found her voice again.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "But we can't help it, you know? I know that somehow Pyric is forcing us to be on his side, whether through mind control or something else."

Will looked up at her, a serious expression on his face. "Then fight it," he said firmly. "He obviously doesn't have too strong a hold on you if you're here now. Don't let him control you, Anaia."

The girl opened her mouth to protest as she looked at the older man. But, her words stuck in her throat as she looked into his sad, serious, kind eyes.

"I…I want to fight it…" Her voice faltered as she began to walk towards him slowly and with great effort. "He can't control me," she insisted, her voice growing stronger as she neared Will. "I will fight him. He did this to me. He separated us and tried to destroy you. He can't get away with it." Intensity grew in her voice with every word and step. "I will fight against him. He couldn't take my first home, and I won't let him take this one either!" As she finished this, she finally made her way to Will. He took her in his arms, holding her as he looked down at him. Their eyes were still locked, and a determined smile graced both of their faces.

"I won't fight on his side anymore," Kimber told him. "I'll fight with you and stop Pyric at all costs." Closing her eyes, she leaned into his embrace, her arms wrapped around his waist tightly.

Will's sad tears turned to tears of joy. "I knew you could do it, Anaia," he said gently as he held her close to him. Before either of them could do anything else, the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard not far away from them. The two of them jolted to attention and turned towards the noise. Standing there a few yards away were the other Trienith Rangers, accompanied by both Rufus and Stephen. It was obvious that the latter was the one who had cleared his throat. His arms were folded across his chest, and an angry look was spread across his face. The other Rangers looked confused and a bit fearful, but not angry like Stephen was.

"Anaia." His voice was as dark and angry as his expression as he glared at the two people before him. "Get away from him! He is your enemy."

Glaring back, Kimber took a few steps towards him. "No, Pyric," she began, her voice firm and resolute. "He's your enemy, not mine. Adus was my leader on Trienith, and he's the one I should be following now. You are the one who did this to us. You tried to destroy us numerous times on Trienith, and now you're using us as your pawns here against the Earth Rangers. Well, I won't be your tool anymore."

Ignoring the look of shock and furious anger on Stephen's face, she turned to the other Rangers. "Guys, he did the same to you as he did to me. Why are we following someone who tried to destroy us so many times?"

Jud, Jorge, and Angela seemed to have no answer for this. They looked around at each other and then back at Will and Kimber.

"Cirin, Feanaro, Alassea." Will said his friend's names gently, trying to conceal the urgency in his voice. "You don't have to follow Pyric. He is evil and he's only using you for his work. In your hearts you know this. Please listen to them, and to us. Don't fight for the one who tried to take over Trienith and who is now trying to take Earth. Fight against him, and help us defeat him once and for all."

A deep and thoughtful silence filled the park, the only sound coming from the wind rustling through the leaves and grass. After a moment, Stephen grunted angrily.

"Why are you listening to him?" he asked, looking at the Trienith Rangers. "He wasn't able to save you in the end. He was your leader and it was his job to protect you. Did he? No. He allowed me to put my spell on you. What makes you think this time would be any different?"

Before he could continue, Jud put his hand up, signifying for him to stop.

"Thanks for that, Pyric," he said, his voice and face devoid of emotion. "You sure convinced me which side I should be on." With that, he crossed the field and stood next to Will and Kimber, grinning at them before turning back to the others. "Sure, Adus wasn't able to protect us, but you were the one attacking in the first place. I'm sure that our leader did everything he could against you. He defeated you once, and now I'll help him defeat you again."

Glancing at each other for a second, Angela and Jorge smiled and then they walked across the field with the others.

"You know, this will be quite a relief," Angela said with a laugh. "I'm sick of getting my butt kicked by my sister." Jorge just hugged her and laughed. Jud continued to gaze over at Rufus.

"Oscuro, come with us," he said. "You're our friend. Use the Chaos powers to fight with us, not against us for Pyric. Aren't you sick of taking orders from him?"

The older boy hesitated. "Well, yes…" His voice was barely audible to the others. "But wait, I'm really your friend?" The Trienith Rangers smiled as they nodded to him.

"Of course, silly," Angela laughed.

Stephen turned to Rufus furiously, Dark Fire burning in his eyes. "Don't you dare join them," he said darkly. "Your allegiance is with me. I'm the one who gave you the Chaos Power. Do you really think you can use it against me?"

Rufus looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm. Why don't we find out?" With that, he shot a combination of Dark Fire, Dark Water, and Dark Thunder at Stephen. It hit him straight in the chest, making him fly back into a nearby tree. The Chaos Ranger grinned at him. "I guess that answers that. Later, Stephen." As he said his name, the leader of the Chaos Three teleported away in a flash of red. Rufus then walked across to join his friends.

He looked at Will seriously, a strange expression on his face. "Adus, I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you guys…" His voice trailed off as he looked down sadly. Will smiled at him though.

"Hey, you were following Stephen's orders," the older boy said kindly. "It will be nice to have you fighting on our side now, Rufus." The Chaos Ranger looked up at him again and smiled.

As Stephen was teleported back to the tower, he growled in frustration. Now, his whole body was engulfed in flame. Thrusting his hands in front of him, he shot all the Dark Fire on him out towards a window. The glass melted immediately as the fire touched it and burst to the outside. From her position in the doorway to her room, Erica could only stare in awe at the power of his anger. She shrunk fearfully back into her room. Although she had no idea what had happened, she knew it must be horrible to cause him to act like that.

"How am I supposed to beat all of them, two teams, with only one person on my side?" His normal deep, indifferent voice was now horrible dark and threatening as it boomed through the tower, seeming to shake the building with its intensity. "Eleven of them against two of us? It's not possible for me to defeat them the way I am now." Suddenly, a thought came to him. His voice calmed back into its normal tone. "But, I still have the books I studied to get the spell I cast on the Trienith Rangers. Perhaps if I looked deeper into them, I could use them to increase my powers immensely." A horrible, wicked grin spread across his face. "Yes, that is what I'll do. The Rangers will not stand a chance against me and my strength." With this thought in mind, he went calmly into his room and closed the door behind him.

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	19. Acceptance

Episode 19: Acceptance

A/N: So so sorry this took so long. I had the worst writer's block, but now my inspiration is back and I have spring break next week, so I'm going to be writing like crazy! I hope this episode is worth the wait. I think it's one of my best ever XD

Anyways, without further ado, I give you episode 19 of Power Rangers Element Storm. Enjoy!

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Dan, Peg, Sean, Beth, and Tiz looked at each other and at Will incredulously as they stood around their table in the café. They could hardly believe what he had just told them, and they didn't know what to say right now. At last, Dan spoke.

"So, we're just supposed to trust them that they're really good now?" He folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at his leader.

"Yeah, how do we know they're not going to turn on us or something, Will?" Peg asked.

Sean nodded. "After everything they've done to us, you expect us to pretend like nothing happened and trust them?"

"Especially Rufus," Tiz put in. "He was never good in the first place."

Beth stood silently next to Del, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. Will sighed, letting his team say their piece. After a moment, Beth spoke up, her voice soft and tinny, as if she was unsure of what she was saying.

"Maybe we should give them a chance, guys," she said. "Wouldn't it be better to fight with them than against them? And we can use all the help we can get against Pyric, right?" With these words, she fell silent again and let her eyes drop to the floor. Her cheeks blushed bright red as she felt her friend's eyes on her.

Will looked at the others hopefully, wondering if they would listen to Beth's logic. After a moment, Sean opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, an explosion was heard outside the closed café. Will cringed a little, cursing the bad timing, and the six Rangers ran outside to see what had happened. Not surprisingly, a monster was standing there. He was deep brown in color and he had black streaks across his body. In his hand was a long morning star mace. As the Rangers approached, he swung his mace at a car and destroyed it.

Sighing a little, Will turned back to the others. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready!" they answered.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

With that, the Rangers morphed and began to fight. Suddenly, a large number of Crodus appeared as well, surrounding the monster protectively. The creature grinned at them, its black eyes gleaming in the sunlight.

"My name is Venorn," he said, his voice sounding dark and cruel. "Come and see if you can withstand the might of my mace, Rangers!"

He ran towards them, swinging his mace at them with all his strength. The Rangers quickly dove out of the way of the thick, spiked metal ball as it flew at them with incredible speed. Jumping up again, they called upon their weapons. Automatically, Dan, Tiz, and Will went for Venorn and the others began to fight the Crodus. The three Rangers slashed their sword-type weapons at Venorn intensely, striking his thick hide and making sparks fly from him. They dodged his mace as he tried desperately to hit them with it. However, with all their efforts, their attacks did not seem to be fazing him. At last, he shoved them away with his powerful arm. Each of them flew off in different directions at the strength of his blow.

Peg whipped her trident all around her, hitting the surrounding Crodus. Sparks flew from their black bodies as they fell to the power of her weapon. But, they got up again soon after and attacked continuously. Peg kicked one away from her and it crashed into another behind it. Then, she swung the broad side of her trident into the face of yet another on her other side. Focusing hard, the Blue Ranger put her trident out in front of her and sent a stream of Water flowing out of it. She then spun herself around in circles, shooting her water out at her enemies. They went flying away from her and dissipated.

Next to her, Sean was swiftly shooting arrows at a line of Crodus in front of him. While he was engrossed in this, he didn't notice a Crodu sneak up behind him. It was about to attack when a blast of Water shot it out of the way. Sean turned and saw Peg running over to him. He smiled from under his helmet and nodded his thanks. The two of them faced off the remaining Crodus near them and began to attack with their weapons.

Beth was surrounded by a small number of Crodus. She gripped her daggers tightly in her fists as they neared her. Suddenly, without warning, she was kicked from behind and she stumbled forward. This gave the others a chance to move in. They began all attacking her at once, and she couldn't seem to get them off of her. She slashed frantically with her daggers and tried to kick them away, but they continued to attack relentlessly. The Green Ranger cried out for help, unable to do anything. Peg and Sean turned to see what was going on, but before they could go and help their partner, a new bunch of Crodus that seemed to appear out of nowhere blocked their path. They began to fight these, trying to get through to help Beth.

The Green Ranger could feel her consciousness slipping away from her as she tried desperately to protect herself. Then, just as she felt she could take no more of this, a large amount of water burst through at her, forcing the Crodus away. Beth sighed with relief, figuring that Peg had come to help. But, when she looked up at her rescuer, she saw to her surprise that it was Jorge. He was morphed and standing above her, reaching down to help her up. Beth put her hand out gratefully to accept it when Peg and Sean rushed over to them.

"Back off, Jorge," Peg said, pointing her weapon at the Trienith Blue Ranger. He obeyed, putting his hands up a little and backing up a bit.

"But, I…" he began. Peg interrupted him by thrusting her weapon closer to him. Behind her, Sean gently helped Beth stand. The Green Ranger immediately stepped forward and put her hand on Peg's trident, pushing it downwards.

"No, it's okay," she said, looking at her friends. "Jorge was helping me. He got rid of those Crodus that were attacking."

"I don't care," Peg said, forcing her trident back up. "I don't trust him." Beth tried to protest, but Sean interrupted.

"Guys, we still have to finish off these Crodus." His voice was urgent as he tugged a little at Peg's arm. The Blue Ranger groaned a little, but she went with him and started to fight the Crodus again.

Back where the others were fighting with Venorn, another confrontation was going on. The other three Trienith Rangers and Rufus were trying to help Will, Dan, and Tiz. They all stopped what they were doing as the latter two Rangers glared at the Trienith Rangers from under their helmets.

"Get out of here," Dan growled. "We can handle this on our own."

Jud scoffed. "Yes, I can see that. You're sure taking it to this monster, aren't ya?"

"Guys, we just want to help," Angela interjected, holding her hands up in front of you.

"Yeah, and we're just supposed to trust you as if you were never our enemies?" Tiz asked, stepping forward angrily. Will put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Stop fighting, you two," he said pleadingly. "They're not the enemies now. He is." He gestured back at Venorn, who swung his mace at them swiftly. They ducked just in time so that it wouldn't hit them.

Dan sighed and turned to the Trienith Red Ranger. "Look, Will, I know you trust them, but you can't expect us to so soon. You knew them before they were evil. We didn't. It's hard to just trust people so easily who tried to destroy us."

Before anyone could say anything else, Venorn's deep, throaty voice flowed over to them.

"Fine, you guys argue amongst yourselves for now," he said. "I'll be back later." Throwing a hand into the air, he teleported himself and the remaining Crodus away, making all of them disappear in a flash of dark purple light.

Stephen grinned as Venorn appeared in the tower before him. The monster bowed to his master and then he stood at attention, waiting for further orders. The leader of the Chaos Three laughed softly to himself.

"This couldn't work out better if I planned it," he said, a darkly happy tone to his voice. "The Earth Rangers refuse to trust the Trienith Rangers. If they keep this up, we will still only have one team to defeat." He paused, his smile fading. "But, I must be prepared in case they do somehow learn to trust each other. So, it's back to the books for me now." He turned and started to walk back to his room. Suddenly, he whipped around to face Venorn.

"You, my good creature, are to wait here until I'm ready to send you down again." His voice was firm and powerful.

"Yes, my master," Venorn replied, bowing again. Satisfied with this answer, Stephen made his way into his room and closed his door.

In her own room, Erica sat on the edge of her bed, tears flowing down her cheeks. She couldn't believe it. The Trienith Rangers had turned good. A part of her had expected that that would happen. But, she never would have thought that Rufus would follow them and abandon her.

Now she was all alone with Stephen, and she was scared. Pyric had never particularly liked her, and he thought that her Elemental power was useless. He would now only use her for her ability to create monsters. And as angry as he used to get when her monsters failed, she couldn't bear to think of how he would react when that happened now…

Will stood outside with his former team mates. The Earth Rangers were back inside the café, refusing to have anything to do with their past enemies. Only Beth now stood by Will's side as he faced the Trienith Rangers.

"Guys, I'm sorry," Will said softly. "I can't force the others to trust you."

Kimber sighed. "Yeah, I know. Maybe we could prove somehow that we have changed…"

Jud shook his head sadly. "Maybe we should leave and let you guys do this on your own."

"You might be right, Jud," Jorge agreed. "How can we work as a team if they're not willing to trust us?"

"No, you can't go," Beth said softly. "We need you…"

"You got along just fine before we showed up," Angela pointed out. "And I'm sure you can defeat Pyric just as well without us."

"I can't blame them for not trusting me," Rufus said quietly, seeming to speak more to himself than the others. "I've always been evil." He sighed and paused, looking at the Trienith Rangers and smiling a little. "But I'd never known what friendship is really like until I met you guys. You were actually nice to me and you treated me like one of your own. I had already decided that I would follow you guys if you turned good, and when you asked me to, I felt a warmth in my heart that I've never felt before. I have friends now, and I could never go back to Pyric."

"Neither could we," Angela agreed. She hugged Rufus warmly and smiled at him. "I'm glad you came with us."

"So am I," Jorge smiled. His face then turned serious again. "But nothing will change the fact that the other Rangers refuse to trust us."

Jud nodded. "Yeah, and we don't want to cause a rift amongst your new team, Adus. You guys will be fine without us."

"But it would be so much easier if we could all work together," Will argued. "And, you're my friends. I…I don't want to lose you again…" He hung his head sadly, knowing that nothing he could say would convince them to stay. "Please, don't leave."

"Adus, we can't work together if your team won't work with us." Kimber walked over to Will and hugged him. "Good luck against Pyric. You guys will be able to defeat him soon enough. I believe in you." She released her hug and nodded to her team mates. They all said their goodbyes and walked away slowly and sadly.

Beth gave Will a helpless look, not knowing what to do. The Trienith Red Ranger didn't return her gaze as he watched his friends' retreat. After a moment, he sighed and turned towards the café. Outside of one of the huge windows, Dan, Peg, Sean, and Tiz were watching them as well.

While Beth and Will had been talking with the Trienith Rangers, the other Element Storm Rangers had had their own conversation. They were sitting at their booth-like table and Del stood at one side, his arms folded across the back of the seat as he rested his head in them. Dan was the first to speak.

"You know, I trust Will as our leader, but he's asking too much with this," he stated. "And I can't understand how he doesn't see our side of this situation. How can they expect us to trust them like nothing after what they did? For all we know, they're only pretending to have turned good and they really intend to betray us again. I don't think it's worth the risk that that's what they're planning."

"Well, yes, that's what I was thinking too, Dan," Tiz agreed. "But, what baffles me even more is that he's so willing to trust Rufus now as well. The Trienith Rangers were once good, but Rufus has always been evil, both on Trienith and here on Earth. Why would he just randomly turn good? I just can't believe it would happen so easily."

Peg sighed and looked out the window for a second before speaking up as well. "I agree. It seems like it did happen too easily. My heart wants to believe that they're good now and that they just want to help, but my head is telling me that there's something not right about this. I don't know which to follow."

Sean nodded, reaching across the table to put his hand on Peg's. "I understand what you mean. Normally, I'd say we should follow our hearts, but when it comes to whether we defeat Stephen or fail, it's too hard a decision to make." He drew his hand out and looked through the window himself, his eyes falling on Beth as she stood next to Will.

A silence filled the still closed café as the Rangers immersed themselves in their thoughts. Soon, though, the silence was broken by Del.

"Well, I'm not a Ranger or anything," he began slowly. "So I guess I don't really have a vote in this. But, if I was a Ranger, I'd probably be out there with Beth right now rather than in here. Sure, it seems likely that the Trienith Rangers might betray you guys again, but couldn't you use all the help you can get? I know it's hard to trust them, but all I'm saying is you guys should give them a chance." He paused, grabbing a loose chair and pulling it up to the table, sitting on it backwards. "Of course, as I said before, I don't have a vote, but I thought I'd give my take anyways. I guess I'll just shut up now."

Del gazed out of the window, ignoring the looks he was getting from the Rangers. He silently smirked at the effect his words apparently had on his friends as he watched Beth and Will walking towards the entrance to the café.

Stephen looked out through the telescope, watching with interest as the Trienith Rangers, along with Rufus, walked away from the two others. He figured that this was not a good sign for his enemies but an excellent sign for him. Turning around sharply, he faced Venorn and smirked at him.

"Now is the perfect time to attack again, my monster," he said. "Take some Crodus with you and attack the café again. I have a feeling it won't be long now before the Element Storm Rangers are destroyed, and the equilibrium of the Elements on this planet is destroyed as well. Then, it will be all too easy to take over and rule Earth. Perhaps if I gain enough power, I can still go back to Trienith and take it also…" He paused, pondering this with a thoughtful grin on his face. Suddenly, he snapped back to attention and glared at Venorn. "Well? Go, now! And this time don't come back until you've destroyed them!"

"Yes, master," the creature replied. Thrusting a hand into the air, he disappeared once more in a flash of deep purple. Stephen turned his attention back to the telescope, watching intently with the hopes of seeing his dream of destroying the Rangers finally come true.

As the five Rangers disappeared from view, Beth and Will had almost reached the door of the café. Suddenly, a beam of energy hit them in the backs and they flew forward, landing on their faces. The two of them quickly turned around to see that Venorn was back with a fresh band of Crodus. Will cursed his ill luck and forced himself to his feet. The other Rangers ran outside as well. Sean helped Beth up and the six Rangers stood facing Venorn.

"Ready for more?" the monster asked, grinning at them evilly.

"Always a pleasure to destroy one of Stephen's creeps," Peg retorted, smirking at their enemy. He simply laughed and prepared to fight.

"Ready guys?" Will cried.

"Ready!"

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

Morphing into their respective colors, the Rangers sprang into action, calling on their weapons and rushing forward to their enemies. Beth and Peg immediately went for the footsoldiers while the boys started in with Venorn. Using their weapons, they slashed away at the Crodus, causing sparks to fly everywhere around them. But, it seemed that no matter how many times they hit them, they came right back. Their attacks weren't fazing them somehow. Suddenly, Peg had an idea.

"Beth, why don't you shake things up a bit?" she suggested, laughing a little. Her friend nodded.

"Good idea." Focusing hard, she formed her hands into fists and started shaking violently. Then, she thrust her hands downward, stooping down until she was half kneeling on the paved parking lot ground. She spread out her hands onto the street and forcing the shaking deep into the earth. The quake spread across the parking lot, causing the Crodus to lose their balance and fall. Peg jumped out of the way just in time as a large crack formed, sucking the Crodus inside of it. Beth tried desperately to keep her focus as she closed the crack, trapping her enemies under the earth. At last, she succeeded, and the earthquake stopped.

The girl stumbled to her feet, wavering slightly as she struggled to keep consciousness. Her powers drained so much energy when she used them, and now she could hardly keep herself from passing out from the exhaustion. Because she had lost so much energy, she demorphed, standing there fatigued and unprotected. She was so out of it that she didn't notice the thick black mace of Venorn flying towards her. Just before it hit, Peg sprang forward, pushing Beth onto the ground and out of the way. The Green Ranger glanced up at her friend, a terrified expression on her face as she thought of what had almost happened.

"Oh, my," she breathed, hearing her heart pounding in her chest. "That was a close one. Thanks, Peggy." She smiled at her, and the Blue Ranger nodded.

"Of course," she replied. "I think you need to go rest, Beth. We'll take care of Venorn." She helped Beth stand and then she ran over to help her team mates. The demorphed Ranger stumbled back towards the café where Del was watching the battle.

Now the five Rangers surrounded Venorn, each with their weapons drawn. He did little else besides swing at them with his mace. They were able to dodge it every time, but they were hard pressed to get close enough to attack him. Every time any of them drew near enough, Venorn would immediately whip his mace at them. This seemed hopeless and they didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, Venorn threw his mace at Dan with more speed than usual. The Red Ranger knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it this time. He closed his eyes, feeling that this would be the end of him. Then, much to the surprise of Dan and the others, a streak of green light seemed to fly into the Red Ranger, pushing him out of the way just as the mace crashed to the ground where he had been standing. Dan looked in shock at his rescuer. He had expected to see Beth, but instead, it was the Trienith Green Ranger. Jud leapt up and helped Dan to his feet as well. The Earth Ranger hardly knew what to say.

Venorn growled angrily. He had thought that he finally had the Red Ranger and he would be able to destroy him with that blow. Not missing a beat, he yanked his mace back up and swung it at Tiz with the same speed and force. Before it could hit, however, a purple streak pushed the Yellow Ranger out of the way. This time, Tiz was scarcely surprised to see that Rufus was the one who had saved him. He speechlessly allowed his rescuer to help him up. He tried to say something, but he didn't get a chance as Rufus ran forth towards Venorn, jabbing at him with his lance. He was able to hit him in the side, but he couldn't do anything else as the mace dashed at him.

Will smiled from under his helmet as he watched his friends. A part of him knew that they wouldn't abandon them and that they would come to help.

"Guys! Fall back a bit so we can regroup!" he cried to the Power Rangers who were present there. They obeyed and ran quickly out of the reach of Venorn's mace. "We need to find a way to hit him while still avoiding that weapon of his. Any ideas?"

Angela raised her hand, feeling a bit odd doing it. "I have an idea," she cried. "Some of us will keep doing what you guys were doing to distract him while the others can sneak up from behind and try to get some hits in. While you guys are doing that, Sean and I can use our bows to do some damage to him. If we can hit his hand enough, maybe we can get him to drop his mace so he won't be able to use it anymore." She paused, turning to the White Ranger. "That is, if you're willing to work with me, Sean."

He hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded firmly. "Anything to get rid of this guy," he said. "Let's go!"

Will sighed with relief. "Great idea, Alassea," he said. "Now let's do this!" The others nodded and ran out to do this.

Angela and Sean stayed where they were, preparing their bows. Jud, Peg, Tiz, and Kimber surrounded Venorn while Dan, Jorge, Rufus, and Will moved in behind the creature. Venorn immediately started in with his mace again, swinging it swiftly at the surrounding Power Rangers. Each time, they were able to dodge it. From their position out of harm's way, Angela and Sean began bombarding the monster with energy arrows. Venorn stopped what he was doing and cried out in pain, looking around frantically for the source of the arrows. Once he found them and was facing them, they aimed their bows at his hand and shot a rain of arrows at it, each hitting the target perfectly. While they were doing this, the Rangers who were behind Venorn ran in and began viciously attacking him with their weapons. Now that he was distracted from the front and the back, the surrounding Rangers moved in as well and also attacked him. This eventually caused him to drop his mace.

Jud, who was closest to the ball of the mace, picked it up and dragged it out of Venorn's reach. It was heavy, though, and he could hardly move it. Angela and Sean ran over to help, and the three of them pulled it far away from the battle while the other Rangers continued to attack Venorn.

"Alright, guys!" Will cried over the nose of the battle. "Let's do this together. All at once now!" With that, the Rangers all hit the monster with their weapons at once. Then, they backed away from him quickly. Venorn stumbled a bit, swaying back and forth, before finally falling forward and exploding intensely.

From inside the Overclocked Café, Beth and Del watched this and they hugged each other tightly, so happy that the Power Rangers had all worked together. Hopefully this meant that the Element Storm Rangers would trust the Trienith Rangers now.

Stephen howled in anger as he watched what had happened through the telescope. The Trienith Rangers and the Earth Rangers had worked together to destroy Venorn. This might mean that they would continue working as a team and trust each other. The very thought of it made Stephen sick. And if all 11 Rangers teamed up against him, how in the world could he defeat all of them?

Turning around, he saw Erica standing and gazing out one of the windows. As his eyes fell on her, she could practically feel his stare. She looked over at him, a fearful expression on her face.

"Erica," Stephen said coldly. "Your monster was defeated. You failed me!"

"But Stephen," the younger girl stammered, her voice shaking with fear. "There are so many of them against one of him..."

"That is not an excuse!" Stephen's glare intensified as his eyes seemed to glow with Dark Fire. He formed a fireball in his hand and stepped towards her slowly. "You will pay for failing me, Raine…"

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	20. Divided We Stand

A/N: Wow, this took like no time to write. I'm on Spring Break, so I have nothing to do all day really. So, I literally spent almost all day writing. I wrote this entire chapter today and then I finished up the first chapter of the original fanfic I'm working on. Man, it feels good to write so much in one day. But yeah, I hope you guys like this episode! It's a really good one.

Anyways, without further ado, I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 20. Enjoy!

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Episode 20: Divided We Stand

Erica lay stretched across her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Tears flowed from her eyes and soaked her pillowcase. Her breath came in short, staccato sobs and her body rocked gently with each one. She let water seep out through her pores to cool the burns that spotted her light skin, but even that could hardly relinquish the pain.

"I can't believe he did that to me..." she whispered to herself. Her voice was so soft even she could hardly hear it. "We're supposed to be on the same side..." Erica had known that Stephen would get so angry at her for failing him, but she had never expected him to blatantly attack her like that. In his fury, he had viciously attacked her with his Dark Fire. She was too afraid of igniting his rage even more to fight back, so she only tried desperately to protect herself with her Dark Water. It wasn't much use, however, and she was still hurt pretty badly.

As she lay there trying to ease her pain, Erica found herself wishing that she had been with Rufus the day he turned good. She would have followed him, and then she wouldn't be suffering the way she was now. Her tears came anew as she thought of how he had left her. She thought that he loved her as she loved him, but now that didn't seem so certain.

Suddenly, much to her dismay and fear, she heard Stephen calling her from the other room. Getting up painfully, she hoped that his almost cheerful tone of voice meant that he wasn't still angry at her. It had been a whole two days since the failure of Venorn, so hopefully Stephen had forgotten about it like Erica wished she could.

When she got out to the main room, she found Stephen standing there smiling at her. He looked her up and down, mentally noting her wounds from his attack. But, he said nothing about that as he plunged immediately into what he was planning on saying.

"The way the Rangers are now, they're almost invincible to us," he began, seemingly pointing out the obvious on purpose. "If they continue working together, we'll never beat them. We need to separate them somehow..." He didn't take his eyes off of Erica as he waited for her to respond, almost looking like he knew or guessed what she would say.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Erica asked, forcing herself to make eye contact with the man she now feared so much. Stephen smirked and looked satisfied, as if she had said exactly what he had expected to hear.

"We just need to attack more than one place at a time so they'll have to split up!" he said, sounding proud and confident with himself. "So, I'm going to need you to come up with at least two monsters for me. If we can even split them in half it should work out just fine."

Erica was a bit taken aback at this. "But Stephen, do the two of us have enough power to create two monsters at a time?" she asked him. "I mean, we never even tried that when Rufus…" Before she could finish, Stephen's eyes began to glow with fire, making her stop short in fear.

"Do not mention that name again, Raine," he said, his tone turning suddenly dark and angry. Then, his face and voice went back to normal and he continued in the same way he had spoken before. "No worries," he assured her. "You may not have noticed, but I have grown much in power. Combined with your power, we should easily be able to create one monster after another. We'll send each of them to different parts of town with a band of Crodus to keep each of the Rangers busy. This way, they'll be forced to split up and we won't have all 11 of them against us at the same time."

He paused, smiling at these thoughts and seeming to look off into space dreamily. Then, he snapped back to attention and looked at Erica again.

"So, go back into your room and think up some monsters for me, Raine," he said in a sickeningly cheerful voice. "Make sure they're good ones too. I need the very best you can give me."

Erica nodded and scampered back into her room, shutting the door softly behind her. She sighed deeply with relief that he had not mentioned what had happened with Venorn or his attacking her. His attitude frightened her, though, and it was not reassuring. Sighing again, she flopped gently back onto her bed and started to think, hoping she could come up with something worthy of creation this time.

The park was nearly empty as Kimber and Will walked towards the playground. It was during school hours, and the kids would not be let out until a few hours from now. The other Rangers were still in school as well, so the two were free to do what they wished. They had decided to come to the park where it would hopefully be peaceful.

They were not disappointed. A slight, cool, California Spring breeze blew through the trees, creating a soft fluttering noise that was quite calming. The only other sound was the chirping of the birds as they made their nests and tended to their young. The two Power Rangers went to the swing set, walking across the warm sand. Kimber sat on one of the swings and held on tightly to the chains holding it up.

Will smiled and began to push her gently, making the swing move higher and higher with each push. Kimber laughed merrily as she swung to and fro. She was delighted at the mild touch of her friend and leader every time she swung back towards him. Will was content to stand and watch her, enchanted by the beauty of her smile.

After a while of this, Kimber slowed the swing down and jumped off. She then ran across to the jungle gym and climbed up to the top, where there was a little steering wheel. While Will followed her slowly, she turned the wheel and pretended she was steering a ship, laughing the whole time. Once her friend finally got up to her, she stopped and turned to him, smiling merrily.

"I feel like a kid again," she laughed. "It's been so long since I've taken the time to just come to the park like this."

Will nodded. "It's been even longer since I have." He ran his hand thoughtfully along the top of the wheel, turning it slowly. He let his eyes follow his hand, not willing to look at Kimber. "All these years, it has been so hard to find any joy amongst all the pain. All this time, I thought, 'How can I be happy when they're gone?' It never seemed right. I thought you guys were…dead. H...how could I allow myself to be happy when you guys were gone forever, never able to feel anything again?"

Kimber's lips parted slightly as she gazed at her friend. She hardly knew what to say as tears began slowly rolling down his cheeks. Reaching her hand towards him, she lifted up his head so he was facing her and she wiped away a tear from his eyes. His deep brown globes seemed to search hers as he looked at her sadly.

"A…Adus, I'm so sorry," Kimber whispered, letting her hand drop to her side again. "I had no idea… But, you should have known I would…we would want you to be happy. Despite what we said when we were under Pyric's control, none of us ever blamed you for what happened to us. We know that you did everything you could to protect us. There was nothing more you could have done."

Will closed his eyes and let the tears continue to fall. "It was my fault," he said softly. "And now nothing can undo the damage of his spell on you, on all of you." He paused, sighing painfully as he looked at the smaller girl. "Because of what Pyric did, I'm twice your age now. He ruined entirely what we had, Anaia."

The Yellow Ranger watched him helplessly, struggling to find words. "But Adus, I still love you, and I always will," she said as the tears welled up in her eyes as well.

"I love you too, Anaia." Will told her. "So much. And nothing will ever change that. But we both know that now it can never be. Because of what Pyric did to us, we can never be together again." The words seemed to pierce both of their hearts as silence filled the park. Kimber could only nod slowly, not knowing what else to do. She couldn't bring herself to look up at the older man now as the pain weighed heavily on the both of them.

A few hours later, Erica got up again and went out into the main room of the tower, where Stephen was glancing through the telescope thoughtfully. As she entered, however, he whipped around to face her, an oddly eager look on his normally serious face.

"Well?" he asked with anticipation. "What have you got for me?"

Erica forced a small smile. "I think they should be able to do the trick, Stephen," she replied, her voice sounding small compared to his deep one.

"Good, good," her master replied with a smile. "Let's do this then. The Rangers are out of school now, so they'll be easy bait for our trap." With that, he moved closer to Erica and they formed their circle.

After creating the monsters the way they always had in the past, Stephen looked them up and down with judging eyes. He nodded approvingly, smirking.

"These should do just fine, Raine," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. Even though he was applauding her, the girl still flinched a little under his touch. Either Stephen didn't notice this or he chose not to say anything about it. "Now, what shall we name them?"

Erica looked at him oddly. "Is that really important?" she asked. "I mean, naming them won't teleport them like it did when…" She stopped herself in time before saying Rufus' name. "When he named them."

Stephen smiled at her. "Didn't I tell you that my power had grown? Just watch and you'll see." He walked up to the first monster, which was about his size. It had thick, brown and green scales and it looked like some sort of mutated lizard. "Hmm. Your name shall be Ikiru," he said to the creature. As soon as the word was out, Ikiru disappeared in a flash of green. Erica could only gape at this in disbelief. Somehow, Stephen had gained Rufus' power of teleportation!

Again pretending not to notice Erica's reaction, the older boy went to the other monster, which looked like some sort of gigantic bird. It was also about his size, but it was covered in white and blue feathers with a bright yellowish orange beak. "And your name shall be Yukora," he said. With that, Yukora teleported away in a flash of blue.

Then, Stephen turned back to Erica, ignoring the look of shock on her face. "I've sent each of them down with a good number of Crodus to help them," he informed her. Walking over to the telescope again, he focused in to the park, where Ikiru had been teleported, sighing contentedly. "Now, we just sit back and watch our monsters destroy the Rangers once and for all!"

After school, Dan, Peg, Sean, Beth, Tiz, Jud, Angela, and Jorge made their way over to the Overclocked café like usual. Much to their surprise, it was closed, and looking in through the huge windows, they saw no sign of Will.

"Where could he have gone?" Dan asked, confused. "It's not like him to not be open when school gets out."

"Well, I did overhear him and Kimber talking about going to the park today," Jorge put in. "But they still should be back by now."

"This doesn't sound good," Tiz sighed. "We should try to contact him."

Peg nodded. Putting her morpher to her lips, she pressed the button for the communicator. "Will? Come in, Will." She spoke into her morpher and then released the button, waiting for a response. It wasn't long before their leader's rushed and breathy voice came to them out through the communicator.

"Good, you're there, Peg," he said, sounding relieved. "Kimber and I have run into a little trouble at the park. One of Pyric's monsters with a bunch of Crodus. We need you guys to come help."

"On our way," Jud said, leaning in so his voice would be heard through Peg's morpher. Suddenly, a flash of blue light filled the area behind them. Turning around, the Rangers saw a strange, bird-like creature appear, surrounded by Crodus.

"Uh, Will, we've got a bit of a problem over here as well," Dan said into his own morpher. "But I'll send some Rangers to go help you guys." Looking up, he thought quickly. "Jud, you take Jorge, Angela, and Beth with you and go to the park. The rest of us will stay here and take care of this guy." Jud nodded, and motioned for the others to follow him. The four of them ran towards the park as quickly as they could.

"Should we try to contact Rufus, Dan?" Tiz asked.

"I'll do it," Peg offered. "You guys go ahead." The three boys nodded and took a few steps forward.

"Ready, guys?" Dan asked.

"Ready!"

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

Now morphed, they ran towards Yukora, ready to fight. Behind them, Peg spoke into her morpher, calling Rufus to help.

As the other four Rangers arrived at the park, the scene before them was not pretty. Will and Kimber were morphed, but they were obviously weary, staggering about slightly as they fought.

"Come on, guys!" Jud cried. "Ready?"

"Ready!" the others replied.

"Element, Light Water!"

"Element, Light Wind!"

"Element, Light Earth!"

"Element, Earth!"

The Power Rangers rushed in to help their friends. Jud, Jorge, Will, and Kimber took on Ikiru while Beth and Angela went for the Crodus. The two girls split up, each jumping in the midst of a pack of the footsoldiers.

Beth immediately called out her weapons, crossing her arms as she gripped them tightly in her fists. She ran forward towards a Crodu, slashing her daggers across its arms. Sparks flew off of it, and it fell backwards, clutching the places she hit. She leapt up and flipped over its fallen body, landing behind another Crodu that was coming to help. Twisting around quickly, she let the blades of her daggers grind across its back. It stopped in its tracks, but before it could turn to face her, she kicked it and made it fall forward onto the other Crodu. Two enemies ran towards her at the same time, one on either side of her. Leaping into the air, she kicked her legs out sideways, knocking them away from her and them flipping backwards, landing again expertly.

Angela took out her bow and began shooting arrow after arrow at the surrounding footsoldiers. While some of her arrows hit, most of them were dodged. Seeing that this wasn't working, Angela ran forward towards the Crodus, gripping her bow tightly in both hands. They rushed towards her as well, but right before they clashed, Angela flipped over them and then she slashed her bow behind her, scraping across the backs of her enemies. Turning to face them, she took a few steps back and began pelting them with arrows again. This time, they could not dodge them, and they fell forward and dissipated.

The other Rangers were not having as much luck with Ikiru. He proved to be a very skillful fighter, and he used his powerful arms to throw the Rangers away from him as soon as they approached. While he was distracted with knocking Kimber and Jorge away from him, Will and Jud took the opportunity to rush his other side, slashing their weapons across his thick scales. While sparks flew from him, the attack did not seem to really faze him.

"His scales must serve as armor for him," Will suggested. "They appear to be as strong as dragon's scales."

"Noted," Jud replied grimly. "So what can we do to stop him?" Will just shook his head, not having an answer for that.

Back in front of the café, Peg and Sean were keeping the Crodus busy while Dan, Tiz, and Rufus, who had quickly teleported over there to help, worked on Yukora.

As soon as they rushed in to attack the Crodus, Peg and Sean found themselves completely surrounded as their enemies made a circle around them. They stood back to back in a fighting pose. Before starting, they looked at each other and nodded. The two of them loved working together, and they were very good at it. Calling on their weapons, they ran off in opposite directions to attack the Crodus.

Sean started right off the bat using his bow more as a blade, not shooting arrows right now. He slashed it this way and that, knocking Crodus away from him on both sides. As one came up from behind him, he heard its footsteps even above the noise of the battle. Jumping up, he kicked backwards, spinning himself in the air so that he landed facing the Crodu he had just hit. He then shot an energy arrow at the enemy, making it fly backwards from being hit at such a short range. It impacted three others behind it hard, knocking them onto the ground with the force.

Behind him, Peg slashed and jabbed her trident at the Crodus, hitting them each time with powerful blows. But, somehow, her attacks weren't putting the footsoldiers out of commission. They stood up soon after they were forced to the ground, and they seemed hardly weakened. Suddenly, a Crodu snuck up from behind Peg, and in the frustration of seeing her attacks proving ineffective, she didn't notice it. It reached under her arms and held her in place while she could only struggle to get free. Other Crodus in front of her moved in and began hitting her viciously. While she was unable to move, one of the enemies grabbed her trident and threw it far out of her reach.

The boys were finding their battle with Yukora much less of a challenge. They each held their weapons in their hands as they slashed mercilessly at the feathered body of the strange monster. It all seemed to easy, until all of a sudden, Yukora leapt into the air and flew out of their reach just as they were about to hit him. Of course, this was unexpected, so they weren't able to stop themselves in time before they hit each other with their weapons. This caused each of them to fly backwards in pain, landing on their backs.

Having defeated all of the Crodus in his vicinity, Sean turned around to see that Peg was in trouble. Her trident had landed not too far from him, so he picked it up and ran towards her. When he got there, he jabbed the tip of the trident into the back of the Crodu that was holding his friend, making him let go of her. She turned around to face him and he tossed her weapon back to her. Catching it, she nodded her thanks and ran up to him.

"Hey, how about we double-team these losers?" she suggested.

"Just what I was going to say," Sean replied. With that, he motioned for Peg to get on his shoulders as the remaining Crodus made a circle around them again. The Blue Ranger leapt up on Sean's shoulders and pointed her trident down at them. Dropping his bow, the White Ranger grabbed her legs, holding her tightly. Then, Peg began to shoot a strong burst of Water out through the tip of her trident. While she was doing this, Sean spun quickly around in circles so that the Water hit every Crodu around them. The sheer force of the impact made the enemies fall over and dissipate.

But Yukora had not abandoned the fight. The large winged creature flew towards them as they stood up, knocking them back down with his arms. This happened twice, and each time it caused sparks to fly off of their suits. After the second time, they stayed down.

"Dan! What now?" Tiz asked.

"I don't know," Dan replied truthfully. He felt helpless, since as the leader he should know what to do.

"Hey, maybe you guys can combine your weapons," Rufus suggested.

"Well, Beth's not here, and we kind of need her daggers for that…" Dan said.

Just then, Peg and Sean walked up to them, having heard what was said. As Yukora zeroed in to hit them as well, they ducked quickly, dodging him just in time.

"Wait, maybe it could still work," Peg argued. "Maybe we could include Rufus' lance in the combination. It might give us enough power to defeat this guy."

Sean nodded empathetically. "Good idea, Peg," he said, laying his hand on her back. "It just might work."

The others now ventured to get up, ducking as Yukora once again flew over them.

"Well, it's worth a shot," Dan agreed. With this, he pointed his sword out in front of him. Peg placed her trident on top of it and Sean put his bow sideways on top of that. Tiz laid his sai on the middle of the bow, the blade facing outward. Finally, Rufus set his lance on top of the sai.

Dan waited until he saw Yukora zooming towards them for another attack. Peg, Sean, Tiz, and Rufus stood behind him, each with their hands on his back. As Yukora once again drew towards them, Dan prepared to shoot. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" A powerful blast of energy burst from the weapon, hitting the flying creature head on. It exploded on impact, destroying the monster with its force.

Back at the park, the other Rangers were still struggling with Ikiru. His immensely strong scales would not allow him to take any damage even when all six Rangers were now able to attack him at once, having gotten rid of the Crodus. They were taking much damage themselves as he pushed them away like bowling pins with his thick arms. The Rangers didn't know what they could do to defeat him.

As Beth was thrown back painfully, an idea came to her. "Guys!" she called out hoarsely. "Try combining your weapons. If we can do it with ours, I'm sure you can."

Will looked at her thoughtfully. "You're right, Beth!" he cried. "Let's give it a shot, Trienith Rangers."

The others nodded at him and they drew in around him. Will held his sword out in front of him and Jorge placed his trident on top of it. Angela then laid her bow across it, and then Jud stuck his daggers blade first on the undersides of the bow. At last, Kimber put her sai on top of the bow.

"Alright, guys, I hope this works!" Will held the weapon erect as the others filed in behind him, each laying their hand on their leader. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" The weapon let out an enormous blast of energy, impacting Ikiru and destroying him.

Back in the tower, Stephen growled in anger. This wasn't supposed to happen! They were just as strong apart as all together. How was that possible? It didn't matter how, he decided. All that mattered was that he had lost again due to the weakness of his monsters. His eyes began to flame up as he turned around to look for Erica. Not seeing her in the room, he decided that that was best. If he had seen her, he would have destroyed her in his rage.

Instead, he let out a huge fireball at her door, but he made it dissolve before it hit it. Well, that was the last time he would work with monsters, he decided. Obviously, they weren't good enough.

"If you want things done right, you have to do them yourself," he told himself, calming down at this thought as he made his way to his own room. "It won't be long now before I'm ready to show those Power Rangers the real meaning of power. Then, they'll regret ever crossing me."

With these words, he went into his room and slammed the door behind him.

Back at the café, the Rangers were discussing the day's victory over smoothies. Will hadn't opened up again yet, saying that he was closed for renovations. After a battle like that, he felt like doing anything but work.

"That was amazing," Tiz commented, taking a sip of his smoothie and grinning. "Even separated, we're still so powerful."

"I know this sounds lame, but it helps that we all worked together," Peg said. "Combing our weapons was the best thing we could have done."

"Yeah, I'm sure glad Beth suggested that we do that," Jorge said with a smile, looking at his friend as he held Angela close to him. Beth blushed a little modestly, but she said nothing.

"You know, I would have thought of that eventually," Jud put in. This made the others laugh as Kimber laid a hand on her friend's back.

"Sure you would have," she laughed.

Will laughed with them, but his face soon became solemn again. "In all seriousness though, we all do work very well together. That may make all the difference against Pyric. So, let's make sure that we never lose that." He lifted his cup up towards the others. "To teamwork!"

"To teamwork!" his friends agreed in unison, bringing their cups together.

After this, a comfortable silence filled the table for a moment. Beth looked over at Rufus, who was sitting a bit apart from them with a thoughtful expression.

"Hey, what's the matter, Rufus?" she asked, concern in her voice. Being spoken to seemed to shake the boy out of his thoughts.

"Oh, um, nothing," he replied a bit too quickly.

"It's not 'nothing'," Kimber said, walking over to him. "You can tell us. We're your friends." This got a smile out of him, and he stood up and moved closer to the others.

"Well, it's just…" he began slowly, trying hard to think of how to put this. "I just feel so bad for leaving Raine all alone." He paused, struggling painfully with himself. Guys, I can't just leave Erica there alone with Stephen. Who knows what he'll do to her… Especially since her monsters are failing him. As angry as he got at her before, it must be so much more intense now. I have to do something to help her."

"What makes you think she wants to turn good?" Peg asked. "She seems pretty content being evil to me."

Rufus glared at her slightly. "Well, you don't know Erica," he insisted. "She would have followed me instantly if she had been with us that day. But instead, I left her alone with Pyric. I just have to do something…"

Will laid his hand on Rufus' shoulder. "You're right, Oscuro," he said gently. "She is in danger with Pyric, especially if she does indeed want to turn good. But you're the only one who can get into the tower. Only you can help her now, Rufus."

The boy nodded, slowly at first, then with more determination. "You're right," he said firmly. "Only I can help her, and I will. I swear on my life that I will save her."

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A/N: I seem toonly have like two peoplewho still review this / But anyways,I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	21. Fall of Chaos part 1

A/N: Wow, I can't believe how fast I wrote this! I was writing literally all afternoon, and I finished the whole thing today. It was really amazing. This episode was fun to write. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Anyways, without further ado, I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 21. Enjoy!

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Episode 21: Fall of Chaos part 1

It was a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon and the Overclocked café was full of students relaxing after a hard week at school. Del and Beth were kept very busy busing tables as Will worked comfortably behind the counter. The other Rangers sat happily around their table, relieved at getting a bit of a break from their duties. Rufus was nowhere to be seen, though. Only Will knew where he was. That morning, he had set off to the tower to save Erica. His hope was that he could sneak in and out without Pyric noticing, but he hardly believed that was possible.

While Will worked making drinks and setting them on trays, he kept one eye on the TV he had had installed above the counter. There were now four TVs hanging from the walls in the café: one above his counter, one in each corner, and one in the middle pillar of the wall right across from him, over the Ranger's usual table. They were wired to work with one remote and to always be on the same channel at the same time.

Right now, Will had them fixed onto the news, which seemed to be showing the same old boring stories. By watching the news, however, Will hoped that he would be informed of any attacks Stephen might attempt. He was sure that any monster sightings would quickly be reported and he could find out about them easily. But, so far, all seemed quiet today, and Will hoped even more that it would stay that way.

Rufus gazed up at the tower and sighed deeply. This was the last place he wanted to be again. Now that he had left Pyric, he knew that facing him again could easily be the death of him. Stephen would be angrier at losing him than the Trienith Rangers. They had been controlled by him and had broken his spell over them. He was supposed to be working with Stephen willingly, but now he had gone against him. What Rufus was about to do could hardly be more dangerous for him, but he had to do it. Erica was in there, and he had to help her.

While he knew he could use his teleportation ability, he was reluctant to do that. No matter where he teleported, Pyric could be there and see him. It would make things easier, but he couldn't take the risk of getting caught. Standing outside of the entrance to the tower, Rufus knew he was in danger even here. For all he knew, Pyric was at the telescope now, and there was always a chance he could spot him.

Taking a deep breath, he began walking slowly towards the entrance to the tower, hoping that he had not yet been spotted. The last thing he needed right now was a confrontation from his former master. All he wanted was to save his friend.

Up in the main room of the tower, Stephen was indeed looking through the telescope, but not where Rufus feared he would be. He had it focused to show the café, where the Rangers were gathered, looking calm and happy. He smirked at this. They had no idea how much his power was growing. Every day as he poured over his books and trained with his powers, his strength was ever increasing. It would not be long now before he would become so powerful that no one could stop him.

Even though, as he had decided after the last failed battle, if he wanted something done right, he'd have to do it himself, he decided that he couldn't let the Power Rangers get more rest. He had to do something to challenge them, weakening them a bit more before he was ready to strike. The plan of how he would do this had already come to him, and he was about ready to spring it into action. Stepping away from the telescope, he went to a window and gazed out happily at the world below; the world that would soon belong to him.

That's when he saw the last thing he would ever have expected to see. Standing not far from the tower was the seemingly tiny form of Rufus. At first, Pyric could not imagine what the boy was doing here. The rage and anger building up inside of him momentarily clouded his thoughts. When he gathered himself again, it hit him. Erica. That must be why Rufus was here. While Pyric himself was not capable of the emotion of love, it was obvious that those two felt it strongly towards each other. Oscuro must be here to "rescue" Erica from him. The thought made Stephen laugh out loud.

"Well, if he wants to save his little girlfriend, he'll have to fight for it," he said softly to himself. "This will be a great chance to try out my new skills and to get revenge on him for betraying me." With that, he tore himself away from the window before Rufus could see him. He then burst into Erica's room, where he found her sitting on the edge of her bed, thinking. Grinning, he grabbed her wrist and said her name, teleporting both of them to the ground below.

Rufus whipped around as a flash of red and blue filled the area. Much to his horror and disappointment, Stephen was standing there, gripping Erica's wrist in his powerful hand. She was struggling as hard as she could against him, looking confused as to what was going on. Then, she saw Rufus and she understood. She looked at him with fear and sadness mixed into her expression.

"Let her go, Pyric," Oscuro demanded in a firm, unafraid tone. From the look in his eyes, though, it was obvious that he knew Stephen would not obey. "Your problem is with me, not her."

Smirking at him, Pyric tossed Erica aside like a doll. She hit the ground with a hard thud, clutching her wrist painfully. "Oh, I'm afraid the problem is with all three of us now," the Dark Fire wielder said. "I mean, that's what we are, right? The Chaos Three?"

"That's what we were," Rufus corrected him. "Now you're on your own. How can you contend with 11 Rangers by yourself? You know you will be defeated and destroyed."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, friend." Stephen's voice turned cold and cruel; a frightening tone that Rufus had never heard him use before. "My power is growing. The numbers of my enemies will soon be of little importance."

The Chaos Ranger cringed slightly, hardly knowing what to say. "Look, just give me Erica and let us go. If your power is growing as you say, you don't need her anymore. Fight the Rangers by yourself."

Stephen's typical dark, wicked laugh rang out and echoed through the trees. "I would gladly fight the Rangers myself," he said, his tone changing back to his typical sarcasm. "But they're a bit busy right now. I have Crodus out attacking the city in massive numbers, so if they survive that, the battle between them and I will happen. Until then…" He paused, taking a few steps forward so he was standing between Rufus and Erica. "If you want your girlfriend, come and take her from me!"

Holding his fist out towards Rufus, he ignited it in Dark Fire. Oscuro nodded firmly before glancing at Erica, who was watching him as she huddled against the tower. He winced as he saw that her body was covered in dark burns. What had he done to her?

Snapping back to attention, he prepared to morph.

"This should even up the odds if you're so much more powerful now, Pyric!" he cried. "Element, Dark!" His body glowed a deep purple color as he morphed into the Chaos Ranger. He got into a fighting pose and prepared himself for the battle of his life.

Suddenly, back at the café, something on the news caught Will's attention.

"Legions of Crodus are attacking all over the city!" the reporter said in a frantic tone. Will turned up the volume and all eyes in the room fixed on the TVs. They saw a single reporter standing in a treed in area of the park. Behind him, people were running around fearfully while the familiar, dark shapes of Crodus chased them. "We've never seen this many at one time," the reporter continued. "They're not just here at the park, but in large numbers in several places around the city. Right now, one question comes to mind. Where are the Power Rangers?"

Around the café, everyone was talking at once, shocked at this news. The Rangers jumped up and ran over to the counter.

"Will, there are so many of them!" Dan cried breathlessly. "How can he even create that many?"

The Trienith Red Ranger shook his head sadly. "Pyric is growing in power," he said in a grim tone. "We have to defeat him now before he gets too strong for us." Hopping over the counter, he looked around the room thoughtfully.

"Everyone!" he shouted above the noise. The students turned to him, panic forming in their faces. "Everyone, go back to your homes," Will said firmly. "You'll be safer there than here." The teens did not need to be told twice. They flooded out of the café, dispersing quickly to their cars. Relieved, Will turned back to the Rangers.

"Alright, if they're all over the city, we're going to have to split up. I don't want anyone going alone, though. Split up in teams of at least two and we'll spread out around the city."

The other Power Rangers nodded at this and they all ran out of the café. Already there were a large number of Crodus slinking up towards them. The Rangers got into fighting positions, but Will shook his head at them.

"Go!" he cried. "Kimber and I will stay here and fight them."

Regretfully, the other Rangers took off each to different parts of the city, preparing for what they knew would be the battle of their lives.

Pyric wasted no time in rushing at Rufus' morphed form, trying to punch him with his flaming fist. The Chaos Ranger dodged it quickly though and he tried to hit Stephen as he went by. His enemy was too fast for him though, and he quickly turned around for another shot. This time, his fist slammed into Rufus' stomach, sending him flying back several feet. Getting up quickly, Oscuro shot a beam of electricity towards his enemy, who dodged it deftly. Stephen ran again towards the Ranger, who put out his fist and punched him in the face before he could do anything else. The older boy fell over onto his back, but he hopped up again quickly.

"You've grown much in power since our sparring match, Oscuro," he said, smirking. "But I have grown more. And this time it's not sparring. This time it's for real!"

He leapt into the air and flipped over Rufus, turning around swiftly and shooting a powerful blast of Dark Fire at him. The boy had no chance to dodge, and he flew forwards, landing on his stomach hard. His back burned intensely from the flames, but he couldn't give up. He forced himself to stand and he began focusing his energy. Then, he shot out a mass of Dark Water towards Stephen out of one hand. He leapt out of the way of the main blast, but he still got wet enough. Taking this opportunity, Rufus shot out an immense amount of Dark Thunder at his adversary, hitting him head on. The water conducted the electricity, intensifying the already vast amount of pain it would have caused.

Stephen doubled forward, screaming in pain. Rufus stopped, staring at the weakened form of his former master. There was no way he was defeated, he knew. It would be way too easy.

Beth, Sean, and Angela arrived at the park and were horrified by the carnage there. While it seemed that all the people had escaped, there were still Crodus everywhere and they had torn up the playground pretty good. The swing set was toppled over and the monkey bars were bent out of shape. The jungle gym had sections torn off that were now sprawled across the sand. While most of the Crodus were off in the grassy areas of the park, looking ready to fight, a small number of them were surrounding a miniature playhouse in the playground.

Beth turned to the other two. "You guys go after the others," she said. "I'll see what they're so interested in over there." They nodded at her.

"Let's morph then," Sean cried. "Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Light Wind!"

Now morphed, Angela and Sean ran off to fight the majority of the Crodus while Beth ran towards the destroyed playground.

When she got there, she could barely make out through the dark hides of the Crodus what they were trying to reach. A small child was huddled inside the playhouse, trying desperately to keep out of their reach.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size, freaks!" She pulled the footsoldiers away from the playhouse one by one before reaching in towards the child. He looked up at her with frightened eyes before seeing that she was a Power Ranger. His fear turned to a smile as she helped him out of the playhouse through one of the windows.

"Thank you, Miss Power Ranger," he said, grinning.

"Anytime," she said. "Now run along and find somewhere safe." He nodded and ran off away from the park. A few of the Crodus tried to follow him, but Beth stopped them by kicking them onto their faces. Now, the footsoldiers focused on her instead, surrounding her.

On the field, Angela and Sean were teaming up against the Crodus, using their bows diligently. As they were shooting the ones in front of them, though, they didn't notice that others were sneaking up on them. Suddenly, they were both kicked in the back and they stumbled forward onto their faces. Jumping up again, they began knocking Crodus away from them with their bows as the remaining ones behind them closed in.

Jud had taken Jorge and Tiz with him to the high school, which was now overrun with Crodus. When they saw the Rangers approaching, they headed towards them, ready to fight.

"Alright guys, let's do this!" Tiz cried. "Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Water!"

"Element, Light Earth!"

The morphed Rangers ran in towards their enemies, calling on their weapons. Tiz charged up his sai with Thunder and then he began slashing it viciously at the surrounding Crodus. They flew away from him at the strength of his blows, most of them dissipating as they hit the ground. Jud sliced his daggers at Crodus as they drew near him, sending them flying backwards. Jorge caused Light Water to shoot out of his trident every time he hit a Crodu, intensifying the attack and making the creature dissipate.

But, no matter how many they defeated, their numbers never seemed to decrease. It seemed that there were always more coming from somewhere, and the Rangers were growing tired.

"Dang, I've never seen so many in the same place at the same time," Jorge commented as he fought. "Not in all our battles on Trienith."

"No, we never fought this many at a time," Jud agreed grimly.

"Well, we just have to keep at it," Tiz cried. The others nodded and continued fighting, not knowing how much more of this they could take.

Dan and Peg went to the city center where Town Hall was located. It was crawling with Crodus all over the place. At first, the two Power Rangers could only stare in awe at the massive number of enemies. But, they didn't have time to reflect on this as the Crodus turned their attention to them, surrounding them quickly. Dan turned to Peg and kissed her passionately.

"If we don't survive this fight, I had to do that one more time," he said, smiling at her. She smiled back, letting a single tear roll down her cheek. "Let's do this, Peggy," Dan said firmly, his face turning serious and solemn. She nodded, matching his expression and preparing to morph.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

They immediately called out their weapons and prepared to battle. The Crodus moved in, enclosing them in an ever tightening circle. The two Rangers ran out to different sides, clutching their weapons in their hands.

Dan set his sword on fire and began hacking left and right at the surrounding Crodus. This defeated several easily, but their numbers seemed to increase rather than decrease. He continued this though until a Crodu snuck up behind him and kicked him, knocking him over on his stomach. The force caused him to drop his sword, which was quickly pushed out of his reach. Leaping up, he began fighting hand to hand, kicking and punching his enemies away, trying desperately to get to his sword again.

Peg was having little more luck on the other side as the Crodus formed a smaller circle just around her. She knocked them away the best she could with her trident, shooting water out of it with each blow. This seemed to be working, although she could still not break through the circle. Whenever she made an opening, it was quickly closed in again by even more footsoldiers. At last, Peggy leapt in the air and flipped over her enemies, landing outside of the small circle. She grinned tiredly from under her helmet, but the victory did not last long as they closed in on her once again.

Back at the café, Will and Kimber had already morphed and they were doing their best against the Crodus. There were so many of them, and their numbers never seemed to diminish no matter how many they destroyed. They could feel their energy draining out of them as they continued to fight desperately.

At last, Will pulled Kimber back a few steps and stopped fighting.

"Adus, what are we going to do?" Kimber asked, obviously exhausted. "There are so many of them…"

"I have an idea," Will answered confidently. "If you and I combine our powers, we may be able to destroy all of them at once."

She looked at him curiously through the visor on her helmet, nodding slowly. "That just might work. And I'm game to try anything right now."

Taking a step forward, Will held his hands out in front of him, facing the Crodus. They were grouped together before them in a sort of pack. Kimber followed Will's example and the two of them began focusing all their energy towards their Elements. At last, Will shot out a burst of Light Fire. As it stretched out towards the Crodus, Kimber surrounded it with her own Light Thunder. It swirled around the flames as they hit the Crodus head on.

A blinding flash of light filled the area. The two Rangers covered their eyes, and when the flash faded, the Crodus were gone, as if they had never been there in the first place.

Pyric slowly forced himself to stand, and he clutched at his stomach agonizingly. His eyes glowed with fire as they seemed to cut right through Rufus. He glanced over at Erica for a moment before looking back at the Chaos Ranger.

"Go ahead and take her," he said with great effort. "But it won't last long. You will both be destroyed soon enough, along with the other Power Rangers. And then, I will take over Earth and Trienith too. You could have stayed with me, Oscuro, and joined in my victory. But now, you will be crushed just like those losers you consider friends!" With these words, he thrust his fist up into the air and disappeared in a flash of red.

Rufus immediately ran over to Erica and knelt beside her. He took her in his arms gently and held her, wiping the tears away from her eyes with one hand. She looked at him with a painful expression that hurt him to see.

"Erica, I…" he began. She cut him off before he could say more.

"Rufus, how could you just leave me like that?" she asked, her body and voice shaking with sobs. "You know what he's like!"

These words pierced the boy's heart with pain as he heard them. "I meant to come back for you," he said as tears began to flow from his own eyes. "Erica, I promise, I never would have left you if I knew he would do something like this…" He looked at the burns on her body and closed his eyes tightly. "I'm so sorry…"

"You should have figured." The girl shook her head at him. "You know him better than anyone. You know how he gets. He was so angry for losing and he took it out on me…"

"Erica, I…I'm sorry…You know I would never purposely let anything hurt you. I love you, Raine."

She looked at him in almost disbelief. "You do?" He nodded as he picked her up gently in his arms.

"So much."

As Rufus began to walk back towards the café slowly, Erica's eyes never left his face. "I love you too, Oscuro."

At the park, the three Rangers were still having just as much trouble. They could hardly keep standing from the fatigue of fighting so many Crodus at one time. At last, Sean yelled at them to fall back, and the girls obeyed. They ran over to meet the White Ranger.

"Guys, this isn't working," he said. "No matter how many we defeat, more keep coming…"

"There has to be something we can do," Beth said tiredly. "We can't take much more of this."

"Hey, I think I know what we can do," Angela put in. "Maybe we could combine our powers somehow. If Sean and I both use our wind powers, it might help."

"You know, you might be right, Angela," Sean agreed thoughtfully. "It's worth a shot."

"I'll try to help if I can," Beth offered. The others nodded and then turned to face the Crodus again.

Putting their hands out in front of them, Sean and Angela focused all their energy into their Element. Then, they created a powerful wind storm and sent it flying towards their enemies. They were lifted high above the ground, unable to fight the intensity of the wind. Then, Beth caused a strong earthquake, making the ground crack where the Crodus had just been standing. Keeping their focus, the two White Rangers drew the footsoldiers into the crack. Finally, Beth focused hard and closed it, trapping them under the earth.

Jud, Jorge, and Tiz were about to do what their teammates had done and combine their powers. Jorge stood facing the Crodus, who had all grouped together before them. He put his hands out and shot a strong burst of Light Water towards the footsoldiers. Tiz then surrounded the water with Thunder and Jud picked up a large chunk of Earth, throwing it in that direction as well. All three Elements hit at the same time, causing a massive explosion.

When the dust cleared, there was no sign of the Crodus, and the three Rangers sighed with relief.

Dan had finally gotten his sword back and now he was fighting side by side with Peg. There were less Crodus than before, but they showed no signs of fully diminishing. The Blue Ranger looked over at her leader helplessly.

"Dan, I don't know how much longer we can last," she said.

"We can't give up!" the boy cried. "We have to do something…" Then, an idea hit him. "Maybe we should try using our powers together. Fire and Water should be very powerful when combined!"

Peg nodded, seeing the logic in this. The two of them forced their way out of the circle of Crodus and stood facing the group. Dan put his hands out in front of him and shot out a blast of Fire. Peggy then surrounded it with her Water, and the two Elements burst towards the Crodus at once, causing a large explosion as they hit. When the two Rangers could see again, they saw that their enemies were completely destroyed.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking, Rufus and Erica finally got to the café. They found the other Rangers gathered there outside, unmorphed and talking amongst each other. When they saw the two approaching, they fell silent and waited for them to arrive.

Rufus looked at them curiously. "Did you guys really defeat all of Pyric's Crodus?" he asked.

"Yes, we did," Will answered, smiling. "It was harder than anything we've ever done before, but we did it." Rufus smiled at him for a second as he set Erica gently on the ground. Then, his face turned grave.

"You may have defeated him this time, Adus," he said. "But next time we might not be so lucky. I battled with him. His powers have grown immensely. Soon, he may become unstoppable."

Before Will could answer, a dark and evil laugh echoed through the parking lot. The Rangers turned behind them to see Stephen there, floating a few feet above the ground.

"It's too late for that, Oscuro," he said, his voice booming at them with intensity Rufus had never heard before. "I'm already unstoppable. You will never defeat me! But, since you defeated all of my footsoldiers, I commend you and I will allow you one day's rest. However, at this time tomorrow, you will meet me at the park and we will settle this once and for all. We will battle until either you or I am destroyed, and I guarantee you, it will not be me!"

Will stepped towards him and nodded. "We will meet tomorrow," he said with confidence. "But I believe the battle may not turn out as you predict." This brought another laugh from Stephen.

"Oh, I assure you, it will. In fact, here's a taste of my new power now!" He created a huge fireball in his hands and shot it straight at Kimber. She flew backwards into a parked car, screaming in pain. Her body collapsed to the ground where she lay motionless.

"Nooo!" Will cried, running past Pyric towards her. Laughing again, Stephen teleported away. The other Rangers gathered around Will as he cradled Kimber in his arms. Her eyes were open and tears were flowing from them.

"Anaia…" Sobs rocked Will's body as he held Kimber. "I'm so sorry...I should have saved you...It should be me, not you…" But she put a hand up with effort, laying two fingers on his lips.

"No," she said painfully. "Don't say that. You can't blame yourself." She paused, cringing in pain. "Adus, I…I love you forever…"

"Anaia, I promise I will always love you, even when you're gone...Always..." Will forced a smile amidst his tears, and she smiled at him as well.

"Goodbye, my love…" With that, the light seemed to fade in her eyes, and she fell lifeless from his arms onto the pavement.

It was hours after Kimber's death, and the sun was sinking in the horizon. The Rangers had had a funeral like ceremony for their fallen team mate, but that was long over. Will had now locked himself in the back room of the café, and no one had seen him for quite some time. The remaining Power Rangers had decided to spend the night at the café, trying their best to rest for tomorrow's battle.

Right now, Sean and Beth were walking out in the parking lot. They were not ready to sleep yet, and they decided that a walk would help to calm them after the horrible events of the day. They walked close together, as it was a cold sunset.

Suddenly, Sean stopped, turning to face his smaller companion. His eyes seemed to glow in the light of the fading sun as he gazed at her silently. At last, he spoke slowly.

"Beth, there's something I have to tell you," he said gently, his voice shaking a bit nervously. "I've tried to tell you so many times, but every time, something happens to distract me and I don't get the chance. But this time, there will be no distractions. If we die in tomorrow's battle, I can't die without telling you the truth..." He paused, cupping her cheeks gently with one hand. "Beth, I…I love you."

The girl could only stare at him in disbelief. At first, it seemed as if no words would come. Tears of joy welled up in Beth's eyes as she looked up at him. Finally, she found her voice.

"Sean, I can't believe it," she began. "I love you too. I never had the courage to tell you, and…I thought you didn't feel the same." She laid her hand on his, and he brushed the tears away from her eyes with his thumb.

Wrapping both arms around her, Sean leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Beth threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back, all thoughts of the future fading away. Right now, she could only think of how much she wished this moment would last forever.

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A/N: That was amazing to write. I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	22. Fall of Chaos part 2

A/N: Wow, I am so sorry this took so long to write. I was having trouble with writer's block, and maybe a part of me was afraid to end this for whatever reason. It is the first fanfic I've ever finished.

Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone who's ever reviewed this fanfic. Your support and encouragement has helped me along the way so much, and I appreciate it fully. This fanfic has been an amazing journey for me, and I thank you all for sharing it with me. Writing this has helped me to improve as an author so much, and it was so much fun to write. I hope you've enjoyed reading this fanfic as much as I enjoyed writing it.

One more thing, remember to look out for the prequel to PRES: Power Rangers Trienith Destiny. I'll start writing it as soon as I get out of my current writing slump. Also, keep an eye out for the epilogue to this fanfic itself, Five Years Later, which will be written and posted in this fanfic soon hopefully.

To keep up with the tradition of what I've posted before almost every chapter...

Anyways, without further ado, I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 22. Enjoy!

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Episode 22: Fall of Chaos part 2

The afternoon sun was barely visible through the thick gray clouds that had settled in the normally blue sky. While they did not appear to threaten rain, they looked as if they brought some strange tidings, as if foreboding some ill fate. The weak light created by the sun hardly warmed the hearts of the Power Rangers as they stood together at the park, waiting for their enemy to appear. The battle was to begin at 3:00, and it was now 2:53. In seven minutes, the Element Storm Power Rangers and the Trienith Power Rangers would face the toughest battle of their lives; the battle to end all battles. It seemed too much to hope that it would end in their favor.

As they waited, Will stood a bit apart from the group. He had spoken to no one since last night, and no one dared to speak to him. His face showed no emotion as he stared off into space, lost in his thoughts. His teammates were just as silent, hardly knowing what to say right now. No words could fit such a dire situation.

Sean was leaning against the trunk of a tree, holding Beth tightly in his arms and stroking her hair gently. He wished they could stay that way forever and that he never had to let her go. Jorge held onto Angela just as firmly, softly assuring her that he would protect her. Erica stood near Rufus, leaning against him as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders. They had been together in the Chaos Three for so long, but now that they had admitted their love, it all seemed too short a time. Dan and Peg stood together, holding hands silently. Jud and Tiz stood next to each other away from their team mates, feeling a bit lonely as the only ones without someone to hold.

Time seemed to drag on in slow motion as 3:00 drew nearer and nearer. Every minute seemed an hour of torture to the waiting Element holders. During the painful final minutes, they reflected on their past Rangerhood, knowing that however this battle ended, it would be over.

Stephen stood in the center of the main room of the tower, his eyes closed as he focused intensely. His body was wrapped up in Dark Fire, causing the normally dimly lighted room to glow brightly. Minutes from now, mere minutes, the final member of the Chaos Three would take out his enemies once and for all and fulfill his ultimate plan. Earth would be his for the taking, and next, he would move on to Trienith and take it over as well. The possibility that he might lose today's battle never even crossed his mind. Sure, the Power Rangers had beaten him countless times in the past, but they had never fought against him alone with the power he had now gained.

At last, it was time; time for the Rangers' ultimate destruction and his ultimate victory. Stephen grinned to himself, then his eyes shot open and he teleported out of the room, leaving it in bitter darkness.

No sooner had the Rangers' watch-morphers changed to 3:00 when a bright red flash filled the area, blinding them for a moment. When the light cleared and they could see again, they saw Stephen standing not far away from them, his entire body engulfed in almost black flame.

"Well, Rangers," he began, his voice taking on a horribly dark, evil quality that none of them had ever heard before. "This is it. This is the battle to end all battles. Here and now we will finally see which of us is more powerful. I will see just how strong you have gotten with your Elements, and you will experience my ultimate power!"

Will took a few steps towards him, his eyes glowing with Light Fire.

"Pyric," he said, his voice thick with emotion and hatred. "You took from me what was most precious to me. And now, I swear on my life and on hers, I will make you pay for this! You will regret ever crossing me. You're right when you say that we'll finally see which of us is the most powerful. And I promise it will not be you!"

Stephen laughed a sinister, wicked laugh that seemed to echo through the surrounding trees.

"Alright then," he said. "Let's go!"

"Yes, let's do this!" Will cried. He turned to look at his team mates behind him. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready!" they cried out in unison.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

"Element, Light Water!"

"Element, Light Wind!"

"Element, Light Earth!"

"Element, Dark!"

With that, the ten Power Rangers morphed into their respective colors, each jumping into a fighting position as they prepared for the fight of their lives. Erica stood next to Rufus, ready to fight as well. Although she wasn't a Power Ranger, she still had her Dark Water.

Pyric laughed again as he watched them morph. Lifting his hands into the air, he created a large number of Crodus, whose black forms surrounded him instantly.

"Here's a little appetizer for old time's sake," he said, snickering. "Have fun!" He took a few steps backwards to watch.

"Ah, too chicken to fight us yourself," Will said, shaking his head. "But okay, we'll play your little game. Let's go, guys!"

With that, the Rangers plunged into the thick group of Crodus and began fighting. Beth and Erica teamed up at once. While the Green Ranger still slightly resented Erica for attacking her so harshly before, she was more than willing to forgive and forget her new team mate.

The two of them attacked quickly, using karate rather than weapons against the footsoldiers. As a Crodu rushed towards Beth, she kicked it away towards Erica, who thrust the side of her arm into its back, making it fall forwards hard. Beth punched another one near her and then twisted around to kick one that was about to attack Erica from behind. The older girl smiled in thanks and continued to fight. Holding her hands out in front of her, Erica shot out a powerful blast of Dark Water, knocking away several Crodus in an instant.

Near them, Sean and Angela were teamed up. They were using their bows as usual, destroying several of their enemies with ease. Unfortunately, they didn't notice the Crodus sneaking up behind them until they felt their powerful kicks into their backs. Falling over, both white Rangers dropped their bows, which were knocked away from them by their enemies. Jumping back to their feet, the friends nodded at each other and began fighting hand to hand, having little trouble with the almost mindless footsoldiers.

Jud and Tiz were fighting together as well, using their weapons against the Crodus. Sparks flew everywhere as the Rangers threw their enemies away from them left and right. Crodus had rarely actually been a threat to them. They had mostly been used to soften them up for the real battle, and that was what Stephen was using them for today. The two Rangers fought hard, trying not to use too much of their strength at this point. They knew they would need it later.

Rufus and Will fought side by side, using their respective weapons. This part was easy for them. Will slashed a Crodu across the chest, then knocked it away with his arm. Rufus tossed Crodus away from him with the broad side of his lance, using its thick strength to his advantage. The number of footsoldiers surrounding them began to lessen as they defeated them with little trouble.

Next to them, Dan was teamed with Peg and Jorge against quite a large number of Crodus. They went straight to using their Elements to fight, wanting to save their real strength for the battle against Stephen. Dan shot Fire out rapidly at the oncoming enemies while the two blue Rangers used their Water and Light Water respectively. It wasn't long before they had defeated all the Crodus surrounding them. Looking around, they saw that their team mates had done the same.

Having destroyed the Crodus sent up against them, the Rangers grouped together and stood facing Stephen, who was watching them with a smirk on his face, the Dark Fire still burning on his body. He clapped slowly at them.

"Well done, Rangers," he said, sarcasm rippling through his voice. Then, his tone changed to a serious and dramatic one. "But that was the easy part. The real battle is about to begin. I hope you're ready! This battle will not end until either I destroy all of you or I am destroyed myself, the latter being the least likely. So let's go."

Will nodded, then he turned back to his team for a moment. "We can do this, guys," he said firmly. "No holding back. He's going to give us everything he's got, and we have to do the same." One by one, they nodded at him, each ready and determined.

Focusing hard, Pyric suddenly released the flames on his body, shooting them towards the Rangers. They tried to dive out of the way, but it still hit some of them, knocking them to the ground hard. The Rangers' suits gave them some protection against the powerful fire, but the sheer force of it was still enough to do some damage. Those who had not been hit, Jud, Rufus, Beth, and Erica, charged at Stephen, whose body was now free of the fire. Laughing, he knocked the two girls aside easily with one strong arm. Jud was able to kick him in the chest, making him stumble slightly. He was about to kick the Trienith Green Ranger back when he suddenly felt Rufus' hand on his side. Soon, his whole body was surging with Dark Thunder as Rufus focused hard.

Getting up painfully, Erica shot out Dark Water at Pyric, causing the electric pulses to intensify greatly. The Dark Fire wielder screamed horribly in pain as the Rangers who were hit by his first attack stood up as well. They watched as he writhed painfully, wondering if it was possible that he would be defeated by this one attack.

All of a sudden, his body once again burst into flame, sending everyone near him flying away from him. When the fire faded, the Rangers saw that he seemed nearly unhurt by Rufus' attack.

"Nice try, Oscuro," he said, glaring at the Chaos Ranger as he stood up. "But it will take more than that to defeat me!"

"How about this?" Will cried, taking a few steps towards him and putting his hands out in front of him. A forceful burst of Light Fire shot out of him towards Stephen, glowing in the dim, clouded light. Pyric easily pushed this to the side with his own Dark Fire. The Rangers could only stare in awe at the ease with which he had stopped the attack. Clenching his fist, Tiz stepped forward.

"Well, if Rufus' Dark Thunder wasn't enough for you, why don't you taste some of mine?" he spat out. He sent a powerful surge of Thunder towards Stephen, but he moved easily out of its path at the last second before it hit.

"Tsk tsk, you'll have to be faster than that, Yellow Ranger," Pyric smirked. Growling in frustration, Tiz called out his sai again and ran towards his enemy, pushing past Will as he tried to stop him. Tiz charged up his sai with electricity and stabbed it at Stephen's chest. Sparks flew from the sai's blade as it hit the older boy, but it seemed to hardly affect him. Grinning, Pyric picked Tiz up by the neck and threw him back towards the others. The Yellow Ranger flew into Dan, who was barely able to keep from falling as his friend hit him.

Moving a bit closer to her enemy, Angela called out her bow. "Let's see if this will work, Sean," she cried. Nodding, Sean ran up next to her and called his own bow. The two began rapidly shooting energy arrows towards Stephen. He burst into flames again before they hit, and the arrows seemed to melt into the Dark Fire. Seeing that this wasn't working, Angela threw her bow to the ground angrily.

"Maybe some Wind power will work," Sean suggested, also dropping his weapon. The two of them put their hands out in front of them and created strong tornados. They sent them towards Stephen, and they fused together to form one intense whirlwind as they reached him. Pyric couldn't avoid being caught in the wind, and they lifted him high above the park.

"Let go on three!" Angela cried above the noise of the wind. "1…2…3!" They both ceased controlling the wind at the same time, and Stephen began to fall quickly towards the ground. The two white Rangers crossed their fingers as he approached the Earth. Thrusting a hand downwards, Stephen shot a thick pillar of Dark Fire at the ground. He used this to slow himself down until he was able to land with no problem.

"Ha, learned that trick from you, Adus," he said, grinning at the Trienith Red Ranger. "And now it's my turn to attack."

With this, he ran towards the Rangers, knocking them to either side of him quickly before they had a chance to attack or defend themselves. He ended up on the other side of them, smiling as he watched them struggling to stand up again. Before they had a chance, Pyric let out a wave of Dark Fire towards them, sending them flying backwards several feet. This caused the Rangers to all demorph as their power waned. After a moment, they forced themselves to stand again the best they could.

Clutching her arm painfully where Stephen had hit, Beth gave Will a desperate look. "Now what do we do?" she asked. "None of our Elements seem to work against him."

"Not alone at least," Dan said, determination in his voice. "Maybe if we used all of our Elements at the same time it would be enough."

Will nodded. "Good idea. We need to work together to do this, guys!" he cried. He gestured for the Rangers to surround Stephen. They formed a circle around him, but he didn't look at all intimidated. "Alright guys, we have to focus and use all of our strength. This is our only chance, so give it everything you have!"

Each Ranger focused as hard as they could, closing their eyes and putting their hands out in front of them. Unexpectedly, they began to glow their respective colors; Dan and Will red, Peg, Jorge, and Erica blue, Sean and Angela white, Beth and Jud green, Tiz yellow, and Rufus purple. The glowing seemed to form an aura around each of them. These auras slowly lifted a bit above their bodies. Pyric stared at them wide eyed, hardly believing what he was seeing. Now he was getting scared, not knowing what was going to happen with this.

Suddenly, the Rangers all opened their eyes at the same time, and their auras shot towards Stephen at an incredible speed. Their enemy let out a scream of pain as the whole area began to glow a whitish color, forming a dome around him. The dome grew immensely in size until it seemed to fill the whole park. The sound of an explosion burst out, and there was a bright flash. When the light faded, the Rangers saw Pyric lying on his back in front of them, his eyes barely open.

"I…I never knew the Elements held such power," he said weakly, his breath coming in struggled gasps. "You win, Power Rangers. This is the last the Earth will ever see of the Chaos Three, or the Dark Fire. My…my plan has failed, and I am defeated." He looked to Will, who was gazing at him with a stern expression. "You led them well, Adus," he said respectfully, his eyes closing. "Farewell…" With these last words, Pyric, the former leader of the Chaos Three and the wielder of the Element of Dark Fire, disappeared in a flash of red, never to be seen again in this world or any other.

"Farewell," Will answered softly.

About an hour later, the Rangers were all in the café crowded around their favorite table. Only Will, Erica, and Rufus were nowhere to be seen. Del had made smoothies for everyone as they celebrated their victory.

"We did it, guys," Dan said proudly. "Finally, our Power Ranger days are over, and we can go back to our normal lives."

"It will take a while to get used to that," Tiz laughed. "It already seems like we've had the power forever."

"Well technically we have," Jud said matter-of-factly. "The Elements have been with us all our lives, even though we didn't know it."

"Yep," Angela agreed. "And they revealed that to us when we were needed."

Dan rolled his eyes, a smile still on his face. "You know what I meant."

"Of course they did," Peg grinned. "It's just fun to pick on you." This brought laughter to the whole table. Del sighed softly.

"I only wish I could have been a Ranger," he said. "It looked like fun."

"Well it's a lot of responsibility," Sean replied pointedly. "And you have to be careful or it might endanger the ones you love." He hugged Beth who was on one side of him and Marie who was on his other side. She smiled at him and nodded.

"And it sure cut into my video game time," Tiz said, folding his arms across his chest. Peg reached around Dan to punch her friend in the arm lightly.

"Is that all you ever think about?" she asked, laughing with the others.

"No, of course not," Tiz insisted, pretending to look hurt. "It's only almost all I think about." He stuck his tongue out at her playfully and laughed.

"So, what are you guys going to do now?" Beth asked suddenly, looking around at the Trienith Rangers.

Jorge looked down at Angela in his arms for a moment before looking back at her and answering. "Well, we were thinking of going home to our planet," he began slowly.

"But we decided to stay here with you guys," Angela finished with a smile. "It's been so long since we've been on Trienith it wouldn't really feel like home anymore."

"Yeah," Jud agreed. "Plus we'd miss you guys too much." He was standing behind one side of the booth-like table, leaning over the back of the seat. Smirking, he ruffled Sean's thin hair. "And someone has to be here to keep this one in line," Jud laughed. Sean glared up at him but said nothing in response.

A pleasant silence filled the table as the Rangers each became busy with their own thoughts. Before long though, Beth broke the silence again.

"Hey, does anyone know where Will is?" she asked. "And Erica and Rufus aren't here either."

"I think I saw them go into the back room," Del said. "It looked like they were talking about something important."

"Hmm, that's odd," Dan said. "I wonder what they could be talking about that we're not supposed to hear."

"Who knows?" Tiz said. "And right now, who cares? We should be happy right now and enjoy our final victory." He lifted his glass with his smoothie up towards the center of the table. "A toast, to defeating Pyric and saving the world."

The others lifted their glasses towards his, and they all drank happily to this toast. After every thing they had been through to finally fulfill their mission, it seemed the least they could do to celebrate.

Later that evening, the friends and past Power Rangers were all standing outside the café, staring at Will in the shock and disbelief of what he had just told them. At first, they didn't know what to say, but at last Peg spoke up.

"You're going back to Trienith?" she asked sadly. "But you can't just leave us. We need you…"

"Our mission is over and complete now," Will answered firmly. "And I'm going home."

"You may not be our leader anymore," Tiz said. "But you're still our friend."

"Of course," the older man replied. "I'll always be your friend, and you'll always be mine. But after everything that happened, I…I can't stay here anymore."

Jud gave him a serious look. "Adus, going back to Trienith won't bring her back."

"Don't speak of what you don't understand, Cirin," Will snapped back, glaring slightly at him. "You have no idea what it's like. I had to lose her not once but twice. It's too much for one person to handle." His voice calmed a bit and grew more sad than angry. "No one should have to go through this, but I do." He looked away from them to try and hide the tears forming in his eyes. After a moment, he continued. "I'm leaving the café to Erica and Rufus. They will run it now and it belongs to them."

Rufus smiled softly as he held Erica's hand beside him. "Now that Pyric is gone, his spell on us is broken," he began. "We'll start aging normally now. We could go back to Trienith as well, but Adus asked us to take over the café, and we figured it was the least we could do."

"And Earth is home-like enough," Erica put in. "I think we'll get along just fine here."

Will nodded, forcing a smile. "You will, and I thank you for taking over for me," he said. Then, he turned back to the former Rangers, looking specifically at his friends from Trienith. "I've contacted Mak, and he's coming here to take me home."

Angela's eyes widened and she grinned at him. "Really?" Will nodded in response. "Awesome. It will be great to see him again."

"Yeah, it's been so long," Jorge agreed. The Earth Rangers looked at them in confusion, but Jorge just shook his head. "Long story. We'll tell you later."

Suddenly, a bright flash of light filled the small parking lot. When it cleared, a man who looked to be a little older than Will was standing there in front of them. He wore a long white cloak with strange gold markings on it. On his feet he had tall white boots. His light blue eyes seemed to pierce the heart of anyone he looked at, and his short black hair seemed to glow on his head.

While the Earth Rangers just stared at him in awe, Angela ran forward immediately and hugged him.

"Mak!" she cried. "It's so good to see you!" He smiled as he hugged her back.

"It's good to see you again too, Angela," he said. His voice sounded both kind and strong at the same time, and it seemed to almost echo off of the side of the café. Jud and Jorge went towards him and shook his hand in greeting, looking very pleased. Will said nothing as he looked at his friend. Erica and Rufus avoided looking at him and they almost seemed to be ashamed.

"Don't worry," Mak said. "You both used your powers for good to help defeat the ultimate evil. I forgive you for once being my enemies." They turned to him and smiled a little.

"Thank you," Rufus said softly. Mak then turned to Will.

"Let's go home, Adus," he said. Will nodded and stepped closer to him. Before he reached him, though, Beth ran over to him and threw her arms around him.

"I'm going to miss you, Will," she told him sadly. "Thank you for everything, and I'll never forget you!" He looked down at her, surprised at first, before hugging her back gently.

"I'll miss you too, Beth," he said. The others took their turns in saying goodbye to Will as well. Even Del hugged his former boss, saying a sad goodbye himself. At last, the Trienith Red Ranger was ready to go. He went over and stood next to Mak, who put his hand on his shoulder. Both of them waved to the others before slowly fading away.

As soon as the two disappeared completely from sight, the others turned and one by one went back inside the café. Only Beth and Sean remained outside, staring at the spot where their friend had just been standing.

"The Overclocked Café won't be the same without him," Beth sighed, smiling sadly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"No, it won't," he said. "Nothing will ever be the same after all of this. Everything has changed so much in all this time we've spent as Rangers. But I think we all changed for the better, and from where I'm standing, the future looks bright." She smiled up at him as he looked down at her lovingly. Turning around in his arms, Beth stretched herself up to kiss him lightly on the lips. Then, hand in hand, the two of them walked back into the café with their friends, closing the door behind them.

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A/N: And there we go! I hope you all enjoyed the ending (even though part of it was rushed), and once again thanks for reading this. If you're confused about Mak, don't worry, because he will be explained more in the prequel. Thanks once more for reading! I love you all! I hope you liked it! Leave a review!


	23. Epilogue: Five Years Later

A/N: At long last, here is the epilogue and the final ending of Power Rangers Element Storm. I'll try to get up a preview and the first chapter of Power Rangers Trienith Destiny soon, but until then, I hope you enjoy this short reunion chapter

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_I feel the water rushing round me 

I feel the ground shake underneath me

I feel the fire overcome me

And I know right now

That this was meant to be

I open up my eyes what do I see

I see your shinning face looking back at me

Nobody else but you makes me feel safe

Like nothing could go wrong

You do that with your embrace

You've changed me for the better

You've made my life complete

In any kind of weather

With you I'll be happy

I feel the wind rushing around me

I feel the thunder crack above me

I feel your fire overcome me

And I know right now

That this was meant to be

I feel that all my life has

Been building to this love

You're the one created for me

From the One up above

It never occurred to me that this could be real

I can deny nothing not even what I feel

I feel the water rushing round me

I feel the ground shake underneath me

I feel the fire overcome me

And I know right now

That this was meant to be

I feel the wind rushing around me

I feel the thunder crack above me

I feel your fire overcome me

And I know right now

That this was meant to be

I open up my eyes what do I see

I see your shinning face looking back at me

_

Beth finished her song as she sat on her rocking chair, slowly making it sway back and forth. In her arms, a small baby lay wrapped up in a yellow blanket. Her tiny face looked peaceful and happy as she drifted off to sleep. Leaning on the arm of the chair, Marie laughed softly, grinning.

"She loves it when you sing to her, doesn't she?" she asked, looking at Beth with a questioning look in her brown eyes.

"Yes, she does," Beth replied, smiling at the eleven year old girl. "She just likes the sound of her mother's voice. It's not like she knows what I'm singing." Marie nodded slowly, thinking about this.

"It's a nice song," she said. "Where is it from?"

The older girl laughed a bit, her eyes filling with reminiscence. "I wrote it, actually," she told her. Marie's eyes widened with interest as Beth continued. "It was written for your brother soon after our Ranger days came to an end. I just had to put something about the Elements in it." Her voice drifted off as her mind wandered back to days long past. Suddenly, the silence that followed this was broken by someone entering the room. He went over to the rocking chair and leaned on the back of it, gazing down at the people near it.

"How's my baby?" he asked, smiling at Beth, who smiled back up at him.

"She's fine," Beth replied. "She's asleep now, so we can leave whenever you're ready, Sean." The boy moved around to the front of the chair and kissed the baby on the forehead.

"That's good," he said softly. "Now how's my other baby?" Sean leaned forward and kissed Beth on the lips.

"She's fine as well," she said, laughing a bit as she kissed him again. "But if we don't get going, we're going to be late."

"I know, I know," Sean laughed. I've got the car seat set up in the back and everything we need is in the trunk."

Next to him, Marie folded her arms across her chest, glaring playfully at her brother. "Don't I get a kiss too?" she asked in a mockingly stubborn way. Sean chuckled a little.

"Of course!" he smiled, kissing her forehead as well. "Now, let's go!" The three of them got up and went through the good sized house, going out the front door where their maroon Dodge Neon waited for them in the driveway. After settling both the baby and Marie in the backseat, Beth climbed into the passenger seat next to Sean, and they pulled out of the driveway and onto the open road.

The Overclocked Café was nearly empty except for three people. They were wandering around the large room, nervously and excitedly awaiting their arrival. Del took a deep breath as he walked slowly past the table where they had gathered at almost every day. He ran his fingers lightly across the top of it, almost feeling the memories flow into his mind. A smile formed on his lips and he closed his eyes, thinking happily of the times they spent here. It was exciting to think that soon, they would all be here again.

On the other side of the café, Erica paced back and forth, hoping that they would arrive soon. While she didn't have as many fond memories with them, she still couldn't wait to see them again. Sure, they had visited a few times here and there over the years, but never all at once. It had been exactly five years since the final defeat of Pyric, and about four and a half years since all of them were in the café at the same time. After high school, they went their separate ways, still keeping in close contact though, of course.

Behind the counter, Rufus sat on his stool, looking around at the festively decorated room. Streamers of bright Spring colors hung from the walls and the ceiling, and matching colored balloons floated and were taped everywhere. The reunion would be great. How wonderful would it be to see altogether again the people who were his first friends? But what would be even more amazing is seeing Ihim/I again. It was hard for him to visit, seeing as how he was living on a different planet. No one on Earth had seen him since he went home, although Rufus had kept some contact with him. Although he had once been Rufus' greatest enemy, he now had the greatest respect for the older man.

Suddenly, the ringing of the bell on the café door filled the room, interrupting their thoughts. In walked two people, one familiar and the other not. Rufus leapt over the counter and ran over to them, hugging the male warmly.

"Jud!" he cried. "It's great to see you again." The younger boy hugged him back.

"Great to see you again too, Rufus," he smiled. Del and Erica crossed the room and also hugged Jud, saying their cheerful greetings.

"Who is this?" Del asked curiously, gesturing to the strange girl standing next to his friend. Jud smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"This is Chelle, my girlfriend," he answered, beaming. The girl blushed slightly and held out her hand for Rufus to shake it.

"Nice to meet you," she said politely. Before anything else was said, the door opened again and the bell rang cheerfully. In walked two familiar faces. Beside them, two small children stumbled along, walking the best they could on their short legs.

"Dan! Peg!" Erica exclaimed, hugging her friends in turn. "I see you brought the twins." Dan grinned at her as he hugged her back.

"Of course," he said. "Not everyone has met them yet." He shook hands with Jud firmly, smiling at his friend.

"Including me," Jud laughed. "What are their names?" The toddlers hid behind their mother's legs shyly, aware that they were being talked about.

"Well," Peg began, lifting the small girl up in her arms. "This is Ana, named after Anaia." She paused for a moment as a short, painful silence passed between them. Then, she continued with some effort. "And this little guy," she said, patting her son on the head as he peaked out from behind her, "is William, or Will as we call him." The others laughed a little at this, smiling.

"Very appropriate," Del commented with a nod. His expression then changed to one of curiosity. "Where is Tiz?" he asked, looking at Dan. "I would have expected him to come with you guys. You two are still like joined at the hip, aren't you?"

Dan rolled his eyes in mock annoyance at Del. "We are still very close, and we hang out a lot," he said. "But, I haven't seen as much of him lately since he got a girlfriend." He winked at his wife, who was smirking back at him. The others raised their eyebrows in surprise, but Dan continued, pretending to ignore their reactions. "And that's why he's not with us. He's picking her up because he wants her to meet everyone."

By this time, they had all moved to their favorite table, standing near it and a bit away from the door. Peg set Ana down on the table and Will next to her. The siblings looked content as they gazed around the room at the colorful decorations. Before long, the door opened yet again. This time, Angela and Jorge came in, holding hands and looking happy. They exchanged happy greetings with the others, hugging and talking excitedly.

"It's so great to see everyone again," Angela said with a smile. "Can't wait until the others get here."

"Yeah, it will be great to have us all together again after all this time," Jorge agreed.

"Definitely," Rufus agreed. "It's been so lonely here since everyone left."

Then, the door opened again and Tiz walked in. The room went silent as they noticed a shy looking Asian girl walking next to him, holding his hand nervously. Tiz himself was blushing slightly as he entered.

"Hey, guys," he said, smiling. "This is my girlfriend, Ayumi." The girl waved slightly, her cheeks turning bright pink. Rufus was the first one to respond to this. He took Ayumi's hand in his and shook it gently.

"It's nice to meet you," he greeted kindly, a warm smile gracing his lips. He then shook Tiz's hand as well, and the others followed his example. Dan and Peg, who had already met Ayumi, just smiled slyly at each other as they stood near their kids. The room was getting crowded now, but there were still three people they were waiting on. The friends conversed merrily amongst each other as they awaited the arrival of the others. At last, the door opened again and three people walked in, one carrying a small baby in a carrier at her side. Beth set the carrier down gently as they greeted their friends happily.

"Well here we are all together again," Beth commented after the greetings and introductions were complete.

"Almost," Erica corrected. "There's still one more of us who should be arriving soon."

Dan looked at her with surprise. "He's coming? Really?"

Del nodded happily. "Yep. When we sent him an invitation to the reunion and he said he would come."

"That's awesome," Sean smiled. "Then it will really be like old times." Angela laughed at this.

"You sound like an old man," she said, shaking her head at him playfully. "It was only five years ago."

"But five years can feel like an eternity," Tiz said seriously.

"He's right," Peg agreed. "Especially when you're talking about being away from friends." Dan wrapped his arms around his wife and held her tightly, smiling.

"So Beth, what's your baby's name?" Jorge asked, changing the subject. Beth looked at Sean, then back at him before answering.

"We're going to wait until everyone is here before we announce that," she told him. He nodded understandingly and said nothing more about it. The friends talked for a few minutes, still waiting for the last person to arrive. Suddenly, the room lit up with a bright flash of red for a moment. Everyone there turned to see a figure standing in the center of the room. At first, they didn't know what to say. They stared at him in awe for a moment until Rufus finally broke the silence.

"Adus, it is good to see you again." He bowed slightly to him, showing respect for his older friend. The figure smiled a little at him.

"It's great to see all of you as well," he said. "It's been too long." Dan was the first to move forward and hug him.

"Yes, it has, Will," he said. "It hasn't been the same without you here." After this, the others also met with Will, hugging him and greeting him in their own way. Chelle and Ayumi just watched them in silence, seeing that this was a special moment for the friends.

"So, how are things on Trienith?" Jud asked after they had all finished. Will paused for a moment before answering.

"Everything is fine there right now," he began. "After what happened to you guys at our last battle with Pyric there, the Light Elements chose new keepers. Once I left, even Light Fire chose someone new. Mak found the Element holders a few years ago and he's been training them ever since, in case some new evil threatens the equilibrium."

"That's good to hear," Angela said, nodding. "How is Mak these days?"

"He and Crystal are doing well," he answered with a smile. "They're still together after all these years, of course, and they still run the café there."

"Not too surprising," Jorge laughed. He paused for a moment before looking at Beth suddenly. "Hey, now can you tell us your baby's name?"

Sean nodded, taking the baby out of her carrier and holding her gently in his arms. "Her name is Kimber," he said solemnly. A look of slight pain passed over Will's face as he gazed at the tiny child. Taking a deep breath, he then looked up at Sean.

"Thank you," he whispered softly. Sean and Beth nodded. A short and vaguely uncomfortable silence followed until Tiz spoke again.

"Hey, how about we do our morphing sequence just for fun?" he suggested. "Nothing will happen, but just for old time's sake, you know?" Dan put a hand on his friend's shoulder and nodded.

"That's a good idea," he agreed. The others thought so as well, and they all lined up facing the front of the café. Sean handed Kimber to Marie and lined up with his friends. "Ready, guys?" Dan cried.

"Ready!" the other past Rangers called out in unison. As they said their respective morphing calls, they did the familiar motions with their hands.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

"Element, Light Fire!"

"Element, Light Water!"

"Element, Light Wind!"

"Element, Light Earth!"

"Element, Dark!"

Although for the first time ever, the morphing call had no visible effect on the eleven friends, the memories that stirred up in their hearts amazed them to no end. The room fell silent for now, but it was a thoughtful silence rather than an uncomfortable one. As they remembered the times they had spent together in the past, the Power Rangers knew that though their power might be gone, their memories and the changes they had experienced during their Rangerhood would last a lifetime.

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A/N: And that's it! Again, thank you all for reading and reviewing this whole time. And yes, that song is a real song written by me. Hope you like it.


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